The Last Of His Kind
by Vergil Leonidas
Summary: This is an old version, new version is on my profile.
1. Spinner's End Meeting

"Talking"

" _Thinking_ "

" **Ability** "

" _ **Author Note / disembodied speech**_ "

* * *

 _ **Book 1 – Philosopher's Stone**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1 – Spinner's End Meeting**_

* * *

The place you live in is an embodiment of your soul, perhaps even more than your body. An organized space or a big mess, a ton of books and crammed up place or a bare room of necessities… Or perhaps, something out of ordinary.

Just wasting time, sitting on the rubbish-strewn riverbank and looking at an equally dirty river. To look at the unkempt relic of an ominous and shadowy mill blurred by the chilly mist. In a town made up of identical brick, terraced, houses; where the sincerest sound of life is the whisper of the water and a scrawny fox about to kick the bucket.

This town, Cokeworth, has been his house for the last week; and nothing fits him better. Because his vision is blurry, his days are identical and he is losing strength. His red eyes are blurry as sleep overcomes him; an hour later a nightmare saves his life and he is on a run.

* * *

Severus Snape was never an embodiment of health, sallow skin, yellow, uneven teeth and perhaps he was too thin for his own good. He had a large, hooked nose, shoulder-length greasy black hair and dark, penetrating eyes. He lived in this very town, in the house at the very end of the Spinner's End Street; in fact he was just heading there.

Cokeworth was never a particularly magical place; so when creatures, such as ghouls, began lurking in this part of the city Snape noticed right away. It was an anomaly, to the point where it looked almost like the creatures were lured by something, or someone.

Still Snape was more than content with letting the Ministry deal with the matter. At least he believed he'd just leave the matters to them; and he would have, if he didn't hear something crashing near him in a blind alley. He turned around more out of instinct and saw it.

The ghoul was attacking a child, no, not only attacking, it was already above it and ready to strike. Even as unusual as ghoul being violent was, it was threatening to a child so he clearly had no choice.

Snape reached out for his wand, but what he saw next froze him on spot. A black orb appeared above the child's palm, crashed into the ghoul's abdomen. The ghoul separated from the ground and was pushed straight into the wall behind it, a wall about four meters away from the child. The impact knocked the ghoul out, yet the day was far from over. As if this had no effect on it, the child just stood up.

"Geez what's with all these animals…?" He sounded more puzzled than anything else. The boy rubbed the side of his head as he looked at the knocked out creature in front of him. A sudden pain made him flinch when he tried to move his right arm again. "Yep, still hurts. Awesome."

Why in the world was a child taking this so calmly? That's the first thing Snape found strange. The second was the clear usage of Dark Arts even he had never seen before. Finally the child's appearance was another mystery, from what he could tell the child had pure white hair.

"Hey." The child turned around, completely aware of Snape standing behind him. "Sorry if that was your pet or something. Can you tell me what that thing was? I've been seeing creatures like that ever since I came here last week." Red eyes with slit pupils made Snape's heart skip a beat and then there was a scar, lightning-shaped one; however unlike the famous lightning bolt on another boy this one was horrendous. It wasn't a lightning bolt, it was a lightning, like the one that flashed through the sky when there was a storm, and it was spread all over the right side of the boy's face.

Furthermore, he was just casually asking him about the ghoul, such a child-like thing to do but in a not so child-like way.

The calm demeanor was broken by a sudden gust of wind that wheezed through the town. It made the boy shiver. It was summer, yet the weather was somewhat chilly, but not to the point of shivering like the boy just did. The eyes showed fatigue, one that didn't fit a child that just blasted a ghoul into a wall.

Even if Snape accepted the fact that a child could produce a black orb and knock out a ghoul, without a wand mind you, most children would be scared and not as straight-forward as this one. In conclusion this child was most likely an idiot… On the other hand most children wouldn't look as tired as he was.

"So… do you plan on saying anything?" Yet he was an impatient child.

Snape couldn't just leave the brat here. It would be too inconvenient to let him wander around. "Come with me." He urged the boy and pulled out a wand. When the red eyes brightened in curiosity he felt his heart skip a beat again. " **Mobilicorpus**." With a simply word the ghoul's body was raised into the air.

Boy watched the levitating body for a few moments and then grinned confidently. "Sure, but you have to tell me how you did that."

At that time Severus Snape had no idea just who he was taking along to his house; but he knew that he should notify Dumbledore.

* * *

Snape led the boy directly into a tiny sitting room; the walls were completely covered in book, most of them bound in old leather. The rest of the furniture was rather scarce, a rickety table, an old sofa and an armchair. Overall the place had an air of neglect to it.

Snape motioned the boy to sit on the sofa and disappeared into a kitchen. Boy observed the ghoul that was left lying on the floor; it was still knocked out but Snape bound it by somehow creating a rope. The creaking of the doors made the boy look at Snape once again.

"Drink this." Snape offered him a cup and the child looked at the liquid.

"You expect me to trust you?" Boy questioned, showing for the first time a small amount of mistrust.

"No." Boy grinned at the honest response. He stepped over his own display of mistrust and downed the drink.

"Why did you drink it?" Snape asked.

"I don't care if it kills me." For a moment boy's eyes widened. He didn't mean to say that, yet he did, he said the truth when he'd just say he'd taken the chance with it. "What did you give me?" He asked.

The man sat in the armchair and despite looking somewhat relaxed he had the demeanor of power, a kind of aura that demanded respect. "Veritaserum, a potion that makes you tell truth." Snape saw no reason to lie to the child.

"Heh, handy stuff." Child commented, clearly amused by his own naivety.

"What is your name?" The question was direct; there was no need to waste time.

"Vergil Leonidas. Yours?" Vergil asked.

"Severus Snape. How old are you?"

"Eleven."

"Do you know what this is?" Snape pulled out his wand.

Vergil looked puzzled by the question. "A stick." Well he clearly didn't know what it was. It put the man at ease.

"What did you use to knock out the ghoul?" Snape asked.

"That thing over there?" He pointed at the ghoul and then looked back at Snape. " **Darkness Orb**." Vergil answered.

"Do names such as Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore or Potter mean anything to you?" The answer was already clear from the way Vergil's face remained blank.

"Nope, never heard of them." His voice was still as calm as it was back in that blind alley.

"Do you know what a muggle is?"

"No."

"Where did you come from?"

"Epystras." For all the years he lived Snape never heard of such a place.

There was something nostalgic in Vergil's eyes as he thought back to that place; yet underneath that nostalgia Snape could easily see the traces of anger.

"Why did you come along?" It was a question he wanted to ask despite part of him knowing the answer.

"Even if it was a trap I don't care. I'd put up a fight though." Vergil said, the thoughts of Epystras vanished from his mind and took the anger from his eyes along.

Snape remained silent for a moment. "That's all. You are to stay here." He ordered.

"Why do you think I'd listen to you?" Vergil questioned.

"You don't care, do you?"

"Heh, fair enough."

* * *

Snape allowed Vergil to use the bathroom. There wasn't really a need to ask for something as trivial as that, but the boy did so regardless. Vergil cupped some water and splashed his face with it. He let the drops drip down from his face and the bangs of his white hair. The dripping sound calmed him down, even rhythm, like a heartbeat… He took a deep breath and took the towel to wipe his face off.

As long as he was in the house Snape was fine with wherever he remained; he decided to occupy the room Snape offered him, after all he was yet to feel comfortable around the man.

He lied down on the bed and look at the ceiling. "It really happened… It's been a week and no one came…" He muttered and buried his face into the pillow. He tightly closed his eyes, fighting back his emotions. The shaky sigh escaped his lips as he let the sleep consume him.

* * *

He was standing in a room filled with weapons, fighting gear and supplies. He was watching as the man he owed his life prepared to go through with the plan.

"Sorry about this. This is goodbye Verge." The black haired man, barely in his late twenties said. His golden eyes were filled with determination as he ruffled Vergil's hair.

The man's eyes narrowed when he noticed the expression on Vergil's face. "Don't close your eyes. Do not lose sight of what's important. Decide for yourself what you want and protect it." Vergil reluctantly nodded. "You are my pride. Don't ever forget that."

* * *

Vergil sat up, he was breathing heavily, a nightmare, again, every single night, every single time he slept, ever since he came here a week ago.

"And where is this boy you told me of, Severus?" Someone was in the house. Someone other than Snape.

"In the bedroom, sleeping." Snape replied, his voice even from what Vergil could hear.

"That You-Know-Who incarnate can't be allowed to walk around freely." Well that certainly made him curious.

"What are you basing that… statement on?" He recognized Snape's voice yet again. It seemed like the man was often making small pauses when he spoke.

"As you have just told us Snape, he has red eyes, pale skin, white hair and he's clearly using dark arts." It sounded like a lot of reasons to Vergil, but if there was one thing he was certain of it was the fact that he was clearly not an incarnate.

"Now, I understand your worry Cornelius. Nonetheless we should consider taking him in and teaching him at Hogwarts; he clearly showcased that he's capable of magic." An elderly sounding voice stated. Magic? Was that what Snape used?

"Even if he is not You-Know-Who's incarnate he is clearly born with a power that is too dangerous!" This Cornelius guy, at least Vergil guessed so, exclaimed.

"It is not what you are born as that matters, but who you grow up to be." Came the counter argument in his favor.

"I demand that he is put under strict surveillance."

Vergil contemplated coming out but his grand entry and possibly freaking the hell out of the man that already sounded like a panicking idiot was ruined by most likely the said man marching out of the house.

"And that ruins it." He muttered as he entered the room.

Immediately Vergil felt the eyes carefully inspecting him. He turned to the tall and thin old wizard with silver long hair and beard that had taken his side and calmly stood as man's piercing blue eyes clashed with his blood red ones.

"Ah, I believe it does ruin it." The elderly man agreed with him making Vergil grin at the light-hearted tone.

"Was this why you told me to stay?" Vergil turned to Snape.

"Yes." Straightforward and honest, Vergil found that he liked that.

"Mr. Leonidas would you mind showing us what you referred to as darkness orb?"

"How about you tell me your name first? It is a bit selfish for you to ask without at the very least introducing yourself." Vergil pointed out thus making the man chuckle again. Snape had to admit he found the kid's temperament to be somewhat amusing.

"Of course. My name is Albus Dumbledore." Dumbledore introduced himself.

"Vergil Leonidas, though you already know that." Vergil grinned and raised his palm. In merely a second a black orb formed in front of it. "It's a bit destructive so I'm not going to fire it." Vergil explained.

"Go ahead." Snape urged him.

"Are you sure?" Vergil asked.

Snape pointed at the armchair by the side. "Do it."

"If you say so." Vergil shot it and it collided with the chair thus shattering it.

"Quite intriguing I must say." Dumbledore commented, but Vergil already knew that neither the older man nor Snape for that matter were intrigued by the ability. They were intrigued by the red eyes. Eyes that were supposed to be yellow judging by the ability Vergil just showcased.

" **Reparo**." Snape said and the chair was back to the state it was in just before the impact.

"I sure know how to stumble on people…" Vergil sighed, it was always a bad habit of his, stumbling into people that would in one way or another really affect his life. It seemed to be something that he inherited from his mother…

He decided to get to the point that interested him at the moment and as this part of conversation seemed to end he just decided to strike a new one. "So why was that other one here anyways?" Vergil asked referring to Fudge and making the older wizard chuckle.

"Do not worry yourself with it Mr. Leonidas." Dumbledore assured him. There was no need for Vergil to know that it was merely a coincidence. People were called to take the ghoul; Cornelius Fudge got the word of it and wanted to be the good Minister… "Severus, I believe I can leave the young Mr. Leonidas in your care, yes?"

Well it's not like the child had anywhere else to go. "Yes, Headmaster."

"Mr. Leonidas, it was a pleasure to meet you." Dumbledore disappeared into thin air leaving Vergil dumbfounded.

"That's magic, right?" Vergil assumed.

"Yes." And Snape confirmed his assumptions.

"Cool."

"You never said what exactly are you?" Snape suddenly asked. The boy looked at him, clearly not buying the supposed lack of mostly correct guess Snape and Dumbledore had.

"The last of my kind. That's all I'll tell you." Vergil suddenly had a very grim look on his face, way too serious for his age. "You can already guess what I am, correct?"

There was nothing childish or innocent in the way Vergil's eyes became cold as ice, or the way his body tensed.

* * *

A few mornings later Snape placed an envelope in front of Vergil. The boy now had a bandage covering the right side of his face. He was already 'You-Know-Who incarnate' in Fudge's eyes, a lightning scar was the last thing he needed publicly shown.

Vergil glanced at the yellowish envelope, clearly addressed to Severus' house where he currently resided. He turned his gaze to the potions master, sending him a questioning look. " _Well, whatever happens…_ " He thought and opened the letter.

* * *

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

 _Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

 _Dear Mr. Leonidas,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall,_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

* * *

Vergil folded the letter and closed his eye. "Even though I'm supposedly 'Whoever-that-is incarnate'?"

Severus made a small pause and then. "…Yes."

The light from the candles above them flickered slightly and they heard a distinct sound of thunder rumbling in the distance.

"The hell?" White haired boy was absolutely baffled. And then another thought came to his mind. "My owl?"

"Yes, an owl." Snape deadpanned.

"Can I just refuse?" Vergil had to ask. He knew he was hoping for one hell of a miracle, he knew it was a wasted breath to even ask… But he just had to.

"No." Of course not…

"What in the world did I get myself into…?" White haired boy had to ask the question he didn't expect an answer to.

* * *

 _ **And that's it. I believe that by the time Voldemort went to kill James and Lily his eyes were at the very least turning red or that his pupils were starting to become more slit-like. Horcruxes weren't the only kind of Dark Magic that he practiced and experimented with so I believe the change would happen.**_

* * *

 _ **Some time ago I received quite an eye opening critique (on another story) concerning my overall writing. So I decided to revisit my previously published chapters to try and improve, at the moment I am in the process of doing that, so I will get to writing chapter 7 once I'm done with these chapters. I really want to get better, to make this story more enjoyable to you as readers; as such I would be very thankful if anyone was willing to provide any constructive criticism on what I can improve in my writing.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Diagon Alley**_


	2. Diagon Alley

_**Chapter 2 – Diagon Alley**_

* * *

"Can I just refuse?" Vergil had to ask. He knew he was hoping for one hell of a miracle, he knew it was a wasted breath to even ask… But he just had to.

"No." Of course not…

"What in the world did I get myself into…?" White haired boy had to ask the question he didn't expect an answer to.

Giving up on any resistance Vergil looked at the list of all the things he needed.

* * *

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

 _UNIFORM_

 _First-year students will require:_

 _1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

 _2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

 _3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

 _4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

 _Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

 _COURSE BOOKS_

 _All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

 _A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

 _Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

 _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch_

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

 _Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

 _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

 _OTHER EQUIPMENT_

 _wand cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) set glass or crystal phials telescope set brass scales_

 _Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

* * *

Oh he was going to have a field day with this, really, he was.

"And I absolutely need all of these things?" Vergil just had to ask.

"Yes." The dry answer of the potions master was all he needed.

"And how will I get money for this?" It was a very logical question because Vergil was absolutely broke, he had nothing. Not a single knut.

"Hogwarts has a fund for students like you. You'd normally have enough for mostly second-hand purchase." By now Vergil was used to slow, even way Snape spoke. "But I will give you enough to avoid that."

"Why? There's nothing wrong with second-hand things." Vergil pointed out.

"At the moment you are my responsibility." Well that explained a few things.

* * *

It happened again, the nightmare. Vergil sat up abruptly, cold sweat ran down his chin and the clothes he was wearing were damp. He didn't know how much time passed; all he heard was an owl hooting near the house. He stood up, feeling shaky and unsure of his own steps. The creaking of the floor betrayed his movement; but he still walked out of the room intending to go outside to get a bit of a fresh air.

"You're up." Snape's statement made him look to his side, he didn't even notice the potions master sitting on the armchair with newspapers in his hands. For a moment it looked like people on the picture moved. Vergil blinked a few times, he was surely seeing things.

"A nightmare." Vergil merely offered the reason and began walking to the doors.

"You had them every night." Again, it was a statement as the man laid the newspapers on the table and looked at him.

"There's not much I can do about them." Vergil replied. His eyes were fixated on the potions master. The man somehow had a small bottle in his possession.

"Drink this." Snape placed a small bottle on the table. "Dreamless sleep potion." He named the content of the bottle when Vergil raised an eyebrow.

"Well… I guess I've got nothing to lose." Vergil downed the drink and decided to give it a try; he went back to his bed, the rest of the night passed without any dreams, let alone nightmares.

* * *

In the morning they travelled to London. The landscape they were passing by changed as the time went on. Vergil took in the scenery, everything from the random houses near the railway to the green fields, mountains in the distance and a river that ran by their side for a few miles.

It was a sunny day, a bit hot but easily bearable. As he turned to look at the sky a bird flew over the train, displaying its freedom for anyone who'd catch the glimpse of it.

"You're potions master, right?" Vergil asked once he got tired of looking outside the window and focused on the only person sitting with him in the compartment, Severus Snape.

"Yes." That was the first thing Snape told him ever since they left his house.

"Can you teach me how to make that potion you gave me last night?" Vergil asked.

Snape observed him for a few silent moments. "At this moment." He made a small pause. "Leonidas, you are to learn basics first."

"Leonidas? Can't you call me Vergil?" Vergil looked and sounded puzzled by the distance Snape was building, rather effortlessly at that.

"No." They were meant to become student and teacher in about a month, there was no place for something like Snape calling Vergil by his first name or vice versa.

"By the way will I even be able to use magic?" Vergil asked, he wanted to make Snape say it. He wanted Snape to quit acting like he had no idea.

"Are you telling that what you did wasn't?" Yet the man continued.

And Vergil just went along with it. "No, **Darkness Orb** is power of soul. There's nothing magical about it." Vergil explained and looked at the palm of his hand. Slowly a small amount of black mass emerged from it. "See? It's not something that just appears out of nowhere. It's a part of my soul that replenishes at a certain rate. This power is temporary physical manifestation of my soul."

"So you are a devil." Snape said, he put an emphasis on 'are' clearly showing that he had the idea beforehand.

Vergil grinned. "I figured you'd know what I was, at least somewhat. I guess my eyes can kinda throw people off; devils always have yellow eyes." He seemed pleased with the fact that the entire game of ignorance was over.

"Devils can't perform magic." Snape stated.

"What about half-devils half-humans? Cambions?" Now this surprised even the potions master. In fact he was sure that even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to predict this right away. "Mom was a human." Vergil answered the question he somewhat recognized on Snape's face.

"In theory you should be able to." Snape answered Vergil's question, this explained the red eyes.

Not that it would help Vergil's case. Devils were a rare occasion; nowadays barely a handful of people would recognize one on sight. With red eyes throwing people off it would be much easier to make him 'Voldemort incarnate'. Dumbledore had figured it out, but perhaps not even the Hogwarts staff would figure it out unless they saw Vergil actually using the powers of devils.

* * *

The Leaky Cauldron, on the outside it was a tiny, grubby looking pub, on the inside it wasn't that much better; simply dark and shabby. Tom, the old bartender gave Snape a curt nod but other than that Vergil didn't notice anyone paying more than courteous acknowledgement to the man. Not that Snape minded that, from the few days Vergil spent with Snape he figured the man didn't think much of a social status; in fact since Dumbledore left he hadn't seen anyone visiting Snape.

Vergil fought back a smirk when he realized that if he was any more talkative or childish Snape would be fairly irritated. As things were right now Vergil guessed he was being bearable.

Snape led him behind the Leaky Cauldron into a small, walled courtyard with a dustbin. Vergil carefully watched as Snape tapped a brick on the wall three times thus making a hole appear in it. The hole grew bigger and when it finally stopped expanding it was quite big making the boy wonder why it was that large. Nonetheless he left those questions in the back of his mind once he saw the actual place.

The place was crowded, too crowded for Vergil's taste. The architecture was kind of wacky, with the walls and pillars being curved on some of the buildings. The place was a real merchant area, with shops selling all sorts of things occupying the place.

The red eyes boy felt his energy being drained by simply looking at the place. He looked at Snape, from the looks of it the man wasn't exactly thrilled to be here either.

* * *

Going through with the shopping was never Vergil's favorite thing to do, so going through so many shops was mentally exhausting to him. He somewhat liked the visit to the Slug & Jiggers Apothecary but that alone was far from making this trip enjoyable.

"And all that's left is a wand." He finally let out a sigh of relief, they'd go to whatever shop sold those, get the stick and walk out.

"Don't look so eager." Snap said. "It might take the longest."

"Great." White haired boy sighed.

* * *

'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.' That's the first thing Vergil saw when they closed in on the building. They entered the tiny shop that only had a spindly chair in the corner and thousands of boxes. Vergil assumed those were the sticks. The two waited for a few moments for the shop owner to appear.

"Good afternoon." An old man with wide pale eyes spoke softly. "Professor Snape, another muggleborn?" He questioned when he noticed Snape with Vergil.

"Yes." It was the basic cover story, Vergil would identify himself as muggleborn, that way most questions could be evaded for at least some time.

"I am Garrick Ollivander, and you are?" Ollivander introduced himself.

"Vergil Leonidas." Short direct answer.

"Mr. Leonidas. Let me see. Which is your wand arm?" As he asked that he took a long tape measure out of his pocket.

Vergil looked at him a bit confused and then figured he wanted to know which his dominant arm was, thinking back he figured the right arm was the more dominant. "Right arm, I suppose."

"Hold out your arm." Ollivander instructed and the tape began measuring Vergil on its own. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Leonidas. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Halfling felt a bit uncomfortable as the tape measured absolutely everything, even his nostrils… Luckily, the measuring was soon done and Ollivander handed him a wand.

"Mr. Leonidas. Try this one. Cedar and phoenix feather. 10 inches. Just take it and give it a wave." Vergil did as he was told and nothing happened. Ollivander took it from his hand and offered another one.

"Holly and dragon heartstrings, 13 inches." Again with a new wand and again it was snatched from his hand.

"No. Ebony and dragon heartstrings, 9 inches." And again it was no good.

"Yew and unicorn hair, 8 inches." Nope.

Child lost count on how many wands he had tried when the number went over two dozens and that was way too long ago for his liking. "Don't you have something lightning related?" Vergil asked feeling way too tired by the consistent lack of success when it came to finding a good wand.

However, his question was left unheard as Ollivander continued searching way too deeply invested into his own thought process.

Snape remembered the lightning shaped scar and thought back to the black orb Vergil could produce.

"Tricky customer." Despite saying that the man looked pleased. "Let's see… Yes, why not." Ollivander went to another shelf and pulled out a box. "Twenty six years ago I sold a wand with thunderbird feather as its core, one of the two wands I made while I was still learning; the only two wands I still have that aren't made with dragon heartstrings, unicorn hairs or phoenix tail feathers as their core. 12 inches, cedar, unyielding." He took the box. "This one is its brother. Hornbeam with thunderbird feather, 13.5 inches, unyielding." He handed it to Vergil and bluish sparks responded to the movement of Vergil's hand.

Vergil looked at the wand, it felt right to wield it.

"Perfect." Ollivander seemed happy with the results as well.

Vergil handed Ollivander seven galleons and the man gave him the box with the wand.

"Professor Snape, a word please." Ollivander requested.

"Wait outside." Snape instructed him.

Vergil nodded and left the shop.

"Hornbeam selects those with a single, pure passion, which some might call obsession, more kindly, vision, which will almost always be realized. On the other hand thunderbird feathers core wands are difficult to master. That child, perhaps it would be a smart thing to keep a close eye on him." Ollivander said.

Snape remained silent, he knew that Ollivander and anyone old enough to remember the Dark Lord with at least some common sense would eventually pick up on some similarities.

Without offering any answer to Ollivander, Snape walked out and saw Vergil grinning as he leaned against the wall.

"Voldemort incarnate strikes again." Vergil said, he knew nothing about the Dark Lord, nothing of the terror he had caused, thus he felt no fear when it came to that name. It didn't send chills down his spine, it didn't make him shiver.

"Perhaps it has crossed your mind that… referring to Him by his name will further make people believe that." Snape pointed out.

"Perhaps. I guess I should stick with You-Know-Who." Vergil agreed casually.

* * *

A month passed and September the first came, the destination Vergil needed to reach first was King's Cross station and then the platform nine and three quarters. Snape would guide him to the station and then he'd be on his own.

Wordlessly Snape led Vergil through the crowd mostly made up of non-magical humans, muggles as Snape called them. Strangely he stopped at the pillar between platforms nine and ten.

"Pass through." Snape said and walked through the pillar.

"Thanks a lot…" Vergil grunted, but if Snape could do it he should be able to do it too. Believing that it was possible, it happened in front of his eyes after all, he just walked through.

A scarlet steam engine and a platform filled with people. That's what Vergil found. Families saying goodbye to their children, the noisy children running around, the chit-chat and some complaints as well as the sounds of carts being moved to the train. He took in the sight in front of him briefly and turned to Snape.

"Thank you for such a detailed explanation on what the hell I am supposed to do." Vergil said sarcastically. He was nearly certain Snape would have returned the sarcasm with his own dose of it, if he had the chance.

"Severus. I didn't expect to see you here." A voice made them both turn around to face a pale man with pointed face, pale blond hair and cold grey eyes carrying a walking stick with a snake head. Next to him was a tall, slim, very pale woman with blue eyes and long blonde hair, one could easily describe her as good looking as well.

"Lucius, Narcissa." Snape greeted them.

"I assume he is the reason why you're here." Lucius guessed and looked at Vergil, the red eye clashed with his grey eyes, the blood red color sent a small shiver down Lucius' spine.

"Yes." Snape replied.

"Draco is already on the train, maybe you should hurry up." Narcissa spoke to Vergil in a cold, clear voice. Both she and her husband knew what Snape's presence meant, either he was Snape's son or orphan cousin, which was not possible since they'd know that, or he was muggleborn, yet the similarity in those eyes, those cold, blood red eyes…

"And Draco is?" Vergil asked.

"Our son. It's his first year, as is yours…" Lucius waited for Vergil to state his name.

"Vergil Leonidas." Vergil stated.

"…Mr. Leonidas." Lucius finished.

"Well then, I'm off professor." Vergil said, he nodded to the couple out of courtesy and grinned at Snape before he began pushing the cart to the train.

He boarded the train and found an empty compartment to sit in with his left eye facing the window so he could look outside.

A knock on the doors barely a few minutes afterwards made him turn, something he hated the bandage covering his right eye for. He saw a round-faced boy standing there timidly. Vergil motioned for him to come in.

"Thank you." Boy said. "I'm Neville Longbottom."

"Don't mention it. I'm Vergil Leonidas." Vergil offered him his hand and the timid boy accepted the handshake.

"Um… Are you in the first year?" Neville asked.

"Yeah. You?" Vergil casually replied and continued the conversation.

"Same." He seemed to relax just a little bit. "I'll probably be sorted into Hufflepuff." He mumbled. "What house do you think you'll be sorted into?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." All he knew about the houses was the fact that Snape was the head of the Slytherin house.

Neville nodded and began looking around. "Oh no!" Neville exclaimed. "I've lost him!"

"Lost who?" Vergil asked.

"Trevor! My toad. He keeps getting away from me!" Neville cried out.

And the half devil didn't really know what to say to that.

"I'm going to go and look for him." Boy resigned and miserably left the compartment leaving Vergil alone.

* * *

Hours passed and Vergil changed into the Hogwarts robes, he figured they'd reach the school soon enough. Just as he sat down the doors opened and he saw Neville coming in followed by a bushy brown haired girl with rather large front teeth.

"He'll turn up Neville." Girl tried to assure him thus bringing Vergil to the conclusion that Trevor the toad had not been found and was still missing in action. "How come you didn't help Neville out?" She asked the white haired boy.

"Didn't feel like it." Vergil replied bluntly making the girl sigh.

"Well you should have. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She asked.

"Vergil Leonidas."

"Do you know what house you'll be in? I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds the best by far. I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad either." She certainly was way too talkative and she was talking way too quickly for Vergil's liking.

"Come on, let's find the toad." Vergil decided to change the topic and left the compartment.

"We already asked around, no one has seen him." Hermione said as she followed him closely behind while Neville seemed not so hopeful.

"We'll just look around then, it's a toad, in a filled train. It's probably scared so it's hiding." Vergil guessed and began looking around for places where a toad could fit in and hide.

Hermione and Neville kept following him for about fifteen minutes. He knelt down and reached into a small space near the doors. "There you are." He pulled the toad out.

"Trevor!" Neville exclaimed and took the toad from Vergil. "Thank you!" The round-faced boy seemed really happy.

"Don't mention it." Vergil replied and just as he said that the train began slowing down until it finally stopped.

They reached the Hogwarts.

* * *

 _ **And that's it. I'm leaning toward pairing Vergil with Hermione eventually, like really far from this point. I'm not completely sure whether or not to do it so if you have an opinion as to why I should or shouldn't do it feel free to say so. The decision will still be mine to make but it doesn't hurt to ask for opinion.**_

* * *

 _ **Answer on review:**_

 _ **Anime PJ – Thank you for the review, I'm happy to hear I caught your interest with this one. Anyway yeah, I intend to make Snape very important to Vergil's development. I guess I'm still working out the details but yeah, I sort of know where I want to take this.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Sorting Hat**_


	3. Sorting Hat

_**Chapter 3 – Sorting Hat**_

* * *

As train stopped Vergil felt thankful for being near the doors as he could see people crowding the corridor. He opened the doors, the cold air hit him right in the face but he suppressed the small shiver. He stepped down to the platform followed by Neville who got surprised by sudden cold air. Timid boy stumbled a bit, nearly falling in the process as Vergil stilled him on the platform.

"Thanks." Boy whispered.

Vergil gave him a small nod as Hermione joined them. The students all seemed excited despite the obvious cold and the girl just seemed ready to start talking even more about Hogwarts.

They noticed a lamp bobbing over the heads of other students. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" A large man with big hairy face, known as Hagrid, beamed over the sea of students. "C'mon, follow me, any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Vergil wordlessly began following, it was a steep narrow path and through mixing in with the crowd he got separated from Neville and Hermione.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Large man called over his shoulder. "Jus' round this bend here." And then they saw it, the beautiful castle, a large magnificent building with numerous tall towers known as Hogwarts. "No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid instructed as he pointed to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

Vergil climbed into the first boat he came across, incidentally he ended up in the boat with a blond boy that looked way too much like the man he met on the train station. Lucius was it? Yeah, that one, the one who said he had a son in the same year as Vergil. Judging by his appearance this must be him. Well, it didn't matter as all the students stared at the castle that towered over them.

Following instructions they bent their heads down and sailed underneath the cliff, slowly the boats got them all the way to the underground harbor.

The rest of the walk to their destination was pleasant with stone steps instead of steep road. The echoing sounds of children stepping toward their new school seemed similar to a march. None of them wanted to get separated, get left behind or miss anything so the first years formed a kind of rhythm, a fast paced march…

"Everyone here?" Hagrid asked and then raised his fist. He knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open and the students saw a tall, black haired witch in emerald green robes.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid said.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door wide open and led the students into the entrance hall which had stone wall lit with flaming torches and a very high ceiling, they could see marble staircase leading to the upper floor.

She showed them into a small chamber off the hall thus they stood rather close together, mostly because of their nerves.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall began. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room." She made sure everyone was paying attention.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on a couple of students.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." And with that she left the chamber.

Vergil leaned against the wall and waited. If there was a test, well he'd just have to rely on luck, even if he failed he didn't really care.

Screams of several kids made him look up and his eyes widened. "What the hell…?" What appeared out of nowhere were ghosts, about twenty of them in fact and they seemed to be arguing. The half devil didn't really pay much of an attention to the conversation, he was too absorbed in the way they looked and moved and in the thoughts of possibilities…

He didn't even hear one of the ghosts making a question directed at them, the students.

"Move along now." The potential conversation was stopped by none other than Professor McGonagall. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." The ghosts floated through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line and follow me." She turned to the first years.

Vergil stood behind the nervous Neville and walked out of the chamber, went back across the hall, through the double doors and into the Great Hall, which was probably one of the most magnificent places he had ever seen. Lit by thousands of candles floating in midair over four long tables with a long table at the top of the hall where the teachers were sitting. Vergil let himself grin slightly when he saw Snape, it was kinda weird, spending so many hours without the potions master.

Professor McGonagall stopped and they came to a halt with teachers now behind them and all the other students looking at them. McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of them and then put a pointed wizard's hat on it as well. The hat looked quite worn out, patched and frayed and extremely dirty. And then, much to Vergil's surprise the hat twitched and began singing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The hall burst into applause once the hat finished singing. It bowed to each of the four tables before Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." She explained. "Abbott Hannah!"

A girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of the line, put on the hat that was too big for her. The hat fell over her eyes and she sat down.

A few moments later the decision was made. "Hufflepuff!" The table of that house erupted in cheers.

The sorting continued with Terry Boot becoming the first Ravenclaw, Lavander Brown becoming the first Gryffindor and Millicent Bulstrode the first Slytherin.

"Granger, Hermione!" The girl Vergil met on the train almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat way too eagerly on her head.

"Gryffindor!"

A few minutes passed and then.

"Leonidas, Vergil!" Upon hearing his name Vergil walked up to the stool and put the hat on.

" _Hmm… A half-devil, and a half-blood as well. Yes, I remember your mother as well. Irene, a muggle-born Gryffindor._ " Vergil felt his heart stop when he heard the voice of the hat.

" _My mother was a witch?_ " He thought.

" _Yes, which makes you half-blood wizard. Now where to put you…? You certainly have a nerve and you are indeed very brave. But you've got quite a bit of ambition and are cunning enough…_ " The hat seemed to ponder between the two possibilities. " _Gryffindor might be the better choice though, you are a bit of a dare-devil, no pun intended._ "

" _Oh, it was completely intended_." Vergil remarked. " _How about Slytherin?_ "

" _You do fit in and you want it as well. Well then, let it be…_ "

"Slytherin!"

Vergil walked up to the cheering table and the first thing that actually caught his eye was the house ghost. Bloody Baron, a horrible looking ghost with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face and robes stained with silvery blood.

"Longbottom, Neville!" Neville was called and he actually fell on his way to the stool. It took a while but the hat finally made its decision.

"Gryffindor!"

Neville, too happy with the house he was put in ran off with the hat still on, thus making himself the cause of a fit of laughter. The laughing filled the hall when he had to run back to give it back.

Still as he sat down he glanced at the Slytherin table and at Vergil, he looked kinda saddened by the fact that they ended up in different houses and Gryffindor and Slytherin on top of that.

"Malfoy, Draco!" If Neville's was the longest up until now this was one the fastest.

The hat barely touched Draco's head when it screamed. "Slytherin!"

A few minutes later the event of the night came.

"Potter, Harry!" There was a bit of silence and Vergil recognized the name Potter as one of the few Snape mentioned back when they first met. That was the one who defeated Voldemort, The Boy Who Lived… Whispers began filling the hall and Harry broke the current record for the longest time it took the hat to decide.

But eventually… "Gryffindor!"

It was the loudest cheer so far as the raven-haired boy shakily walked toward the Gryffindor table.

"Weasley, Ronald!" One of the last to be sorted, red haired boy, sat on the stool.

"Gryffindor!"

"Zabini, Blaise!" And this was the last one.

"Slytherin!" As Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll and took the Sorting Hat away Blaise sat down next to Vergil.

Albus Dumbledore stood up and beamed at the students with his arms open wide. "Welcome." He said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

He sat down and everyone clapped and cheered.

"The hell did I get myself into…?" Vergil muttered to himself and then noticed the food in front of him. All kinds of it.

The talk of the table soon became the families. As it turned out most of the Slytherin house was pure-blood.

"What about you?" Malfoy turned to Vergil.

"Half-blood." They didn't need to know anything else. Hell he didn't know his mother was a witch up until less than an hour ago. More importantly they didn't need to know about his non-human ancestry either.

The conversation was cut short when Dumbledore stood up once again.

"Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed toward the Gryffindor table, more precisely to the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Vergil had to smirk at that warning.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Dumbledore's sudden exclamation made the Halfling's eyes widen. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune and off we go!" The Head Master said and the school bellowed.

"No way in hell." Vergil hissed. He wouldn't be caught dead singing, anything, let alone song that started like this.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

Everyone singing finished the song at different times, only the Weasley twins were still singing their very slow funeral march.

" _Fitting_." Vergil had to smirk at that.

Dumbledore was one of those who clapped very loudly when the two finished the song. "Ah, music." He said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Slytherin first years followed after their prefect, Gemma Farley, downstairs and into the dungeons where their common room was. Farley showed them the way and the ten new Slytherins were sent to their rooms.

Vergil sat on his bed and looked at his roommates, Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, a dull-eyed, silent bodyguard-like part of Malfoy follower duo, Vincent Crabbe, the very large second half of the already established duo of Malfoy followers. The two seemed to follow Malfoy everywhere. Blaise Zabini, a tall, dark skinned boy and Theodore Nott, like Zabini he was tall, but also rather thin. Well, so far Vergil was fine with this. He turned his gaze to the lake above them, it was one of the reasons why the room was going to be very cold as winter comes, but Vergil would take that over excruciatingly exhausting heat.

* * *

 _ **And that's it.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Anime PJ – I agree, there isn't that much of a relationship at the moment, that's what time's for. Either way I decided to go with Neville first because I like him as the character and there was the perfect opportunity to introduce him and the same went with Hermione. At the moment Vergil/Hermione is more or less set to happen, eventually.**_

 _ **Theboblinator – Thank you. You're right about Vergil and Snape, acquaintances at best at the moment, but like I said in response above that's what time is for. I think we can all agree that Ron had at least a few of the times in which his treatment of Hermione was to be frowned upon, regardless of shipping them or not. As for Vergil hurting Hermione's feelings, yeah, I suppose there are possibilities of that happening. Though it won't be as easy to mend as with Ron and Hermione, as you've seen in this chapter, since they aren't in the same house.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Classes**_


	4. Classes

_**Chapter 4 – Classes**_

* * *

Hogwarts was not exactly what Vergil expected it to be, not that he had much of an expectation in the first place but he certainly did not expect hell of a lot of moving staircases, some even had vanishing steps on Friday. He was willing to bet at least someone got hurt. A harmless thought that maybe someone currently known as dark wizard went mad because he forgot the step, fell and was laughed at for it. Causing the innocent eleven years old to spend seven years remembering that detail of his life thus making him bitter and mad.

Either way he certainly didn't predict seeing living portraits or ghosts. Bloody Baron was… a silent, intimidating type, but he did point the direction when asked. Then there was Peeves the Poltergeist, he didn't do much to the Slytherin students, only because of Bloody Baron, but when he did he'd pull pranks such as dropping wastepaper baskets, pulling rugs from under feet, pelting the bits of chalk, sneak up, grab the nose of unfortunate soul and screech 'Got your conk!'. A lovely individual, that Poltergeist.

And then there was Argus Filch and his cat that everyone seemed to hate but Vergil just didn't care, probably because he was yet to encounter the man in a proper setting.

* * *

The classes, the Halfling had quite a different opinion based on the subject, the first time Vergil had History of Magic he immediately knew how the rest of the classes would look.

Professor Binns, a ghost, probably had every right to teach this particular class and Vergil had no doubt the man knew what he was talking about…

However what he was talking about was beyond Vergil.

"Thus Uric the Oddball…" Vergil wanted to listen, at the very least for the first couple of lessons. That was the initial goal, which changed into at least minutes of the first one when the details of the task became clear. The ghost had such a magically boring voice, droning on and on without anything to liven up the class. All they heard were names and dates, and once again Vergil doesn't doubt them to be right, he just doesn't remember a single thing after the four minute mark into the first lesson. There was no need to take dreamless sleep potion, all he needed was a way to somehow get Binns to talk to him through the night. It certainly would be more economic than taking the potion on a daily basis.

"You sure were paying attention there, eh Leonidas?" Zabini walked up to him after the class had ended.

"Absolutely, I started fighting the battle when he reached the 'Thus Uric' part but prevailed when he got to 'the Oddball'." Vergil smirked, feeling absolutely no shame for falling asleep, even less when he saw other students looking like they just woke up.

* * *

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher was a tiny wizard who needed books to stand on to see over his desk. He was also the first to make a roll call.

Charms were a nice subject in Vergil's opinion, useful, a bit more practical; something that he honestly did like. Yet, he doubted they'd become his favorite subject in the whole world.

* * *

He had a very similar opinion on Herbology, taught to them by Professor Sprout, a dumpy little witch. Halfling had nothing against herbs and such, but he was never that much of a fan of them.

And they had it three times a week, amazing.

* * *

Wednesday at midnight was the only time all four houses had the class at the same time. They were at the astronomy tower, so the sight was quite amazing. The stars shone above them, illuminated the lake and provided the small amount of light in the night.

Since this was the first time Slytherin was in the same class as Gryffindor Vergil took the chance.

"How are you doing?" He suddenly asked as he got a bit closer to Neville. A part of him figured Neville would have made at least some friend by now, seeing as it wasn't the case Vergil struck a conversation.

"Um… I'm doing fine… Still getting lost…" Neville seemed just as nervous as the day Vergil met him. "You?"

"So far so good." They were both whispering, but apparently not quietly enough.

"Leonidas, Longbottom, I certainly hope that you can concentrate on the subject and tell me which star are we looking at." Professor Sinistra requested.

Neville helplessly looked at Vergil who turned to look at her.

"Polaris, most commonly known as North Star or Pole Star." Vergil stated confidently thus surprising the woman.

"Very well, though I kindly recommend that you leave the chit chat for after the class." Professor told him.

"Yes, Professor." Vergil nodded more for the sake of formality than anything else.

The rest of the class passed without any other disturbance; Vergil didn't really care but he figured Neville didn't feel like getting into any more trouble.

"How did you manage to listen and talk to me?" Neville asked immediately after the class.

"I didn't. I just figured it would be that one, her telescope was pointing at it so I took my chances." Vergil grinned.

* * *

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall opened up the class with quite a strict talking-to right away. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

She painted a clear picture that she was not someone you wanted to cross, fool around with her subject or anything of that nature.

Which was proven when she effortlessly changed the table into a pig and then reversed the process.

A lot of complicated instructions and notes later they were each given a match that they were supposed to turn into a needle. Needless to say, none made any difference, thus the first actual homework had been given to them.

* * *

Defense Against the Dark Arts was an utter joke. From the overwhelming smell of garlic, which was the least problem they had, to the stuttering Professor Quirrell who was pretty much a nervous wreck.

Vergil watched as the man tried to find a way to teach and failed miserably. Quirrell almost seemed afraid of the students, of eleven year olds! The half devil honestly didn't want to know how the classes for the seventh year were unfolding.

The man suddenly fell back into his chair, sweating, looking like he was about to faint. Students were confused whether to laugh or not, but Vergil noticed it. The reason for this reaction was his red eye.

Voldemort Incarnate strikes again… he was really getting pissed at the wizard, couldn't he turn his eyes purple, or orange, or whatever other rare eye color there was? He made a small mental note to give the bastard hell if he ever got resurrected.

Yet… As he stepped out of the classroom he felt a strong killing intent somewhere near him. Looking around all he saw were his classmates.

" _Where…?_ " His senses heightened, the slit pupil of his eye narrowed, he steadied his breathing and saw it, the figure just making a sharp turn to the right, disappearing deeper into the castle.

* * *

And so came Friday, the day in which they were scheduled to have Potions, which meant Snape.

Lessons were to be held in one of the dungeons, a place colder than up in the main castle, with pickled animals floating in glass jars around the walls.

Snape began the lesson by taking the roll call.

"Leonidas, Vergil." He called and glanced at slightly grinning Vergil with the eyes that clearly said 'Don't you dare mess up.' Simply because of the fact that Vergil did spend some time living with him.

And then came Potter. "Ah, Yes." He said surprisingly softly, "Harry Potter. Our new… celebrity."

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle sniggered at that and Vergil could see that Potter went just a bit red from the somewhat snarky remark.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of Potion making." Snape began. Just like during the month Vergil spent with him he spoke in barely more than a whisper, yet everyone caught every word. Vergil's respect for the man shot up due to the dominant demeanor he had, so dominant that even the first year students were effortlessly kept silent.

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death… if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." There was just a tiny hint of passion in his voice and that was a new one for Vergil who was now pretty much certain he'd put all his effort into the subject.

Silence followed Snape's speech and then out of blue came a question.

"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Granger shot her hand up in the air to answer but Snape pretty much ignored her as he focused on Potter through and through.

"I don't know, sir." Potter said.

A sneer formed on Snape's lips. "Fame clearly isn't everything. Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Once again Granger tried to get Snape's attention, once again Potter had no idea what the answer was and once again Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle shook with laughter.

"I don't know, sir." The boy replied.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Snape sneered and still ignored Granger's hand. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

At this, Granger stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling.

"I don't know." Potter said quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"

Vergil had to say he agreed with Potter on that one, despite Snape not looking pleased at all.

"Sit down." He snapped at Granger. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

Students quickly rummaged their bags for quills and parchment.

"And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter."

The lesson continued with Snape giving them the task of brewing a simple potion to cure boils and putting them into pairs. Vergil ended up being paired with Theodore Nott and they began making the potions.

"Mr. Malfoy has perfectly stewed his horned slugs. Now if all of you dunderheads could pay some attention to the directions in your books…" Snape clearly favored Malfoy over many if not all students. And Vergil, well there was a certain sense of high expectation Vergil was getting from the man.

Cloud of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had messed up and managed to melt another cauldron into a twisted bold, the potions were seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. The class stood on their stools while Neville, who was drenched in potion moaned in pain as red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" Snape immediately snarled and cleared the spilled potion with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Boy whimpered as boils continue popping up.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at another student and turned to Potter and Weasley because they were working next to Neville. "You… Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor." Snape took another point from Gryffindor and eventually the class ended.

"Leonidas. Stay and brew the potion again." Snape said, fully aware that Vergil didn't have any more classes today.

"Yes, sir." Vergil casually walked back up to his table and began brewing again, he did a good job with the first one, but as he guessed, Snape had high expectations.

"Maybe you were a bit harsh." Vergil commented as he began brewing the potion.

"To Potter?" Snape sneered.

"More to Granger." Halfling stated.

"Did you ask to be put in Slytherin?" Snape asked out of blue.

"It was a contributing factor." Vergil said.

"Mind telling me why?"

"You're the only one who doesn't look at me like I'm Voldemort Incarnate." It was all he wanted to say, it was all he needed to say.

Vergil finished brewing the potion under Snape's strict surveillance; unlike in class he was far stricter and much bigger of a perfectionist. Giving Vergil critiques for everything, from the way he held equipment to the tiniest details like the angle from which he crushed or cut the ingredients.

"Barely passable Leonidas, you'll have to put more effort into it." Snape said once the potion was done. Yet Vergil smirked, this was exactly the kind of motivation he needed.

* * *

 _ **And that's it.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **morganna12 – Thank you very much, I can only hope I made this chapter good enough to live up to the excitement.**_

 _ **The Storm Master 567 – Never say never, but I think not, I lost most of my interest for the series.**_

 _ **AnimePJ – Yeah, it was a pretty much intended parallel, and Vergil is kinda half-blood as well. Gryffindor was an option, I'll admit that, but Slytherin did fit more with the story and I suppose Vergil's actual personality as well.**_

 _ **Azrael – Thanks. I'm glad you think so.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Halloween**_


	5. Halloween

_**Chapter 5 – Halloween**_

* * *

When flying lessons were announced Vergil felt the need to double the dose of the potion he had been taking for more than a month now. For one simple reason… Draco Malfoy, with who came his chatterbox personality.

"I still can't believe the first years never get to be on the house Quidditch teams, it's a shame really. If they only let me I'd catch the Snitch in no time." He started yet another one of his boastings.

"You'd be a seeker?!" Of course someone had to fuel the fire.

"Of course!" And so the story would begin and once again end with him narrowly escaping Muggle helicopters.

His only saving grace was the fact that Malfoy couldn't be in two places at the same time so he'd tune a bit of his talk out and then walk away. As Snape did warn him, his eyes and overall appearance did make him suspicious enough, bringing more attention by punching Malfoy would give him more trouble than it was worth.

He still considered it though.

Vergil's thoughts wandered off to the potion Snape had him make for fifth time, still the same one, the cure for boils. Finally, finally, the man said they would proceed to the next potion, which was the cough potion. He also finally figured out the fact that no matter how well he made the potion Snape would only dare say 'Fine.' If it was absolutely perfect. Which essentially meant that 'Barely passable.' meant 'Good.' in Snape language.

Flying lessons would start tomorrow and they'd be with Gryffindor students. He drank the dreamless sleep potion and lied down letting the sleep overcome him.

* * *

The flying lessons were held on a field, where they had enough space to practice using the brooms.

At the set time when both houses finally arrived Madam Hooch, a woman with short gray hair and yellow eyes arrived as well. For a moment Vergil's eye widened, perhaps in hopes of survivors, but then two thoughts came to mind, she clearly wasn't one, given the time it happened and those were human eyes…

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" She immediately barked at them. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." She waited just a bit for the students to do so and stood at the front. "Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!"'

"UP!" Everyone shouted.

The broom jumped into Vergil's hand right away and he took a look at it, so far this wasn't hard.

Once everyone managed to do it Madam Hooch proceeded to show them how to mount the brooms without sliding off, then she walked up and down the rows to correct their grips.

"Good." She simply commented when she looked at him.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard." She instructed. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle, three, two-"

And obviously something had to go wrong. Neville, as nervous as he was, pushed off before the whistle touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" She yelled at Neville who kept rising straight up.

"Shouldn't you go after him, it's clear he's too frightened." Vergil pointed out but gritted his teeth when she just shot him a glare.

Neville was already twenty feet up in the air, the telltale signs of him slowly slipping sideway any moment now were starting to get clear.

Halfling had no idea why he did it, why for someone he barely talked to twice. They were on their own, no one would come back for them, they would eventually all leave. So why? Perhaps the last bits of hope in his mind wanted to believe that someone, anyone would still come back…

And he began rising up rapidly toward Neville.

"What are you doing?! Come down this instant!" He heard the woman, no doubt about it. He just ignored her order. He ignored the gasps from beneath him, the wind that had more power up here than it did on the ground…

"Easy now, just give me your hand." Vergil offered his hand to Neville the moment he reached the boy.

But it was already too late for any of that, Neville slipped off and remained in the air.

"V-Vergil…" Boy stuttered as he looked back and saw Vergil barely holding on to him and pulling him up a bit.

They heard the students gasping on the ground, both Slytherin and Gryffindor. Vergil felt his arm shaking slightly as he tried his best to keep holding Neville. His body tensed, the strain on his muscles intensified with each passing second.

Vergil grunted. "We're going down, no idea how softly." And they did go down, slowly the seconds passed; counting off the time Vergil had to get this done. With every passing second he was one step closer to running out of strength and slipping himself. It looked good for about fifteen feet but then the lack of experience and the weight of the boy pushed him over the limit. He was out of strength and he slipped causing both of them to fall to the ground. "That went well enough." Vergil muttered as he watched the broom Neville was previously on flying further away.

Madam Hooch bent over them and Vergil glared at her.

"Aren't you supposed to be able to prevent something like this, master broom handler." Vergil snarled. The woman could see the subtle, cold fury in his eye.

Even if she did seem a bit worried for them when she first looked at them on the ground he couldn't overlook her incompetence.

"How dare you…" She hissed at him, the golden eyes clashed with the blood red eye and if the looks could kill they'd both be dead.

"Yeah, how dare I, the first year student, call you, the professor, on your incompetence." Vergil wasn't backing down. He clenched his fists, clutching at some grass in the process.

Other students remained silent, fearful of the professor's wrath. Any further argument was cut off by Neville softly whimpering by them, he got injured due to the fall. He sprained his wrist to be precise.

Hooch immediately turned to check him. "Sprained wrist." She muttered once she confirmed her suspicions. "Come on, boy, it's all right, up you get." She helped Neville up and turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear." Finally she turned to Vergil. "Twenty points from Slytherin and go see your Head of the house."

"Right away." Vergil jumped to his feet and left the field, not paying any attention to the whispers or the way a couple of students looked at him.

* * *

Even without the adrenaline pumping in his blood he fearlessly knocked on Snape's doors.

"Yes." The short answer was enough for him to get in.

"I lost twenty points in the flying lessons." Vergil said right away.

Snape looked up from the homework he was reading and the black eyes fixated on Vergil's red one. "Mind explaining yourself."

"I called Hooch incompetent." He explained.

Snape lacked any expression as he studied the boy. "Leonidas, I had the impression that you had, more, control, over yourself. I believe you had proved me wrong." Alright, that even tone stung way more than Vergil guessed it would.

He kept his eye on Snape but didn't reply.

"As your punishment you are to, clean broom cabinet and all of the flying equipment." Snape knew he had to put some discipline into the boy's mind, otherwise he'd just get into more troubles like this.

"Yes, Professor." Vergil replied.

* * *

When Vergil came back to the common room that night he was greeted by Zabini.

"Guess what Draco did to Potter? He's going to get him expelled." Zabini told him.

"I should care because?" He honestly didn't know why he'd care.

"I challenged him to a wizarding duel." Malfoy joined in. "Of course I'm not going, I'm not mental. But I tipped Filch of and he'll find Potter and Weasley." He boasted.

"Pitiful, Malfoy. Don't you have any honor?" Vergil asked, stood up and left the common room. He didn't even wait for any counter argument or response. That night he took a bigger dose of dreamless sleep potion.

* * *

When he did wake up he had less than twenty minutes to get to the Potions. He lazily put his clothes on and prepared what he needed, leaving him with about ten minutes to get to the classroom. If it was any other class he'd most likely skip out on it.

"Um… Vergil…" The moment he stepped into the classroom he was greeted by Neville.

"Hey, how's the wrist?" Vergil asked.

"F-Fine. Thank you, for yesterday. I'm sorry I got you into trouble." Neville apologized, the boy looked at his feet, perhaps afraid to look the Slytherin in the eye.

"Don't worry about it." The white haired boy dismissed it as nothing worth talking about and sat down. Something about his tone, the even, yet just slightly soft made Neville look at him. "Snape's about to come in, maybe you should go back to your seat." Vergil warned the boy.

Neville was almost certain that he heard him wrong, that he just thought Vergil's voice softened up a bit a few moments before the warning. There was no way it would happen, right? He quickly nodded. "Right… Thanks again." Neville said timidly and went to his seat.

Vergil let out a barely audible sigh just before Snape walked in.

* * *

The following two weeks were… exhausting. On a more psychological level. Disrespecting a teacher came at a price and the wary eyes of a few professors became more apparent to him.

The Voldemort Incarnate… On classes where he just wrote down and did the things they demanded with a half-assed effort. The professors looking at him every now and then, almost expecting him to morph into the Dark Lord, because not only did he disrespect one of them, he also showed he was capable of flying down, mostly, while holding another student.

Harry Potter got awarded for being talented with the broom and it was fine if it was him, or almost anyone else.

But he had that red eye with slit shaped pupil, the eye similar to that of Voldemort.

And he was on his own. Neville was too timid, too shy to start a conversation and Vergil wasn't feeling the need to do so himself, despite initial contact they were drifting apart from what was the closest they both had to a friendship in this place.

* * *

He was sitting in the common room, just staring at the lake above him, when most of his year, led by Draco came in.

"Leonidas. Here, try these." Malfoy offered him a box of sweets and sat down next to him.

Vergil gave him a bit of a puzzled look but accepted to try one. It was a mixture of chocolate and strawberry, very sweet as well.

"Good right? My parents sent them to me." Malfoy gave him a smug grin.

"I guess. I'm not that keen on sweets." Vergil admitted.

"I never told you, but you sure put Hooch in her place. What does she know anyway, I've been taught by the best of the best how to fly." Malfoy boasted.

"I'm off. Extra potions." Vergil stood up and left the common room.

"Oh, I'll see you later then!" Malfoy said, it was the first time the blond boy made a bit more of an attempt to form some contact with Vergil.

* * *

Vergil was never one to get too emotional. Emotions weren't his strongest trait and as such he didn't really know how to deal with them at times. So when it finally came to that point he ran out of castle, he sprinted away from the castle and stopped about half a mile away feeling the need to stop and catch his breath.

He came to a simple conclusion, in just two months he lost quite a bit of stamina. Month spent at Snape's house without doing much and a month here clearly weren't doing enough to keep him in proper shape.

Yet he didn't really care, it's not like it mattered anymore… The reason for him to keep the discipline and mindset prior to all this was gone. Everything was gone, all he had now was a distant potions master and a school in which he felt he didn't belong, oh and a Voldemort Incarnate unspoken title that kinda hung in the air above him… Not much for an eleven year old.

As he stood on the grass field, as the wind blew to his face and he looked at the sky he decided he'd make the most out of what he has, because he wasn't saved just to give up and drop dead.

While he was brewing the potion Snape noticed he put even more effort than usually.

* * *

As he had decided Vergil found a way to cope with time, he kept concentrating all of his free time on potions. Writing down the process, trying to figure out more about the potions he was making so far, learning about new ones and going to library to borrow the material to read, plus he decided to get a bit more knowledgeable about the world he was living in.

He just returned the book he borrowed to the library when someone came up behind him.

"Leonidas?" He turned around and saw none other than Granger, the same bushy haired girl that he met on the train.

"What is it Granger?"

"Not much, but would you like to study potions together?" She asked, not even slightly because she needed any help, in fact she was doing perfectly fine in the class. It was more of a wish for some kind of contact.

"Sure." Vergil accepted. He let her pick a table, a more isolated one, near the corner. They sat down and pulled out their respective books on potions.

About an hour later of silently going through what they learnt on their previous class Vergil finally broke the silence.

"Don't you have any Gryffindor to study with?" As soon as he asked that he felt a bit… stupid. She obviously didn't, he didn't see her that much, but whenever he did, she was alone.

She remained silent for a few moments. "No, not really." She admitted. "You?"

"Same thing." Vergil replied.

Granger looked at him and then back to her book, she closed it and stood up. "Thank you. Maybe we can do this again?" She asked.

"If you want to." Vergil said. A bit over a week later they didn't do it again, and afterwards there wasn't a need to do it anymore.

* * *

The twenty third of October was a rather rainy day, the storm raged near the castle and Vergil felt calm because of it, much calmer than he usually was. The rumble of thunder brought him peace as he brew the antidote to common poisons on yet another one of extra potion classes Snape was giving him.

"Congratulations." Snape suddenly said making Vergil look at him.

"Huh?" His mind tried to come up with intelligent response while trying to figure out what Snape was congratulating him for. Needless to say he failed at both.

"You turned twelve today, if I'm not mistaken." Snape explained.

This was one hell of an awkward 'Happy birthday'.

"Uh, yeah, I did, thanks."

Snape just walked up to him and gave him two rolls of parchment, written by his own hand. "You're going to get a better understanding of the potions you are, obliged to this year, as well as, the two for which I just gave you the details on." Snape explained and Vergil's eyes widened, not so much when he saw that the first one would be burn-healing paste but for the second one, the dreamless sleep potion…

"Didn't you say it's a bit advanced for me?"

"I had assumed, Leonidas, that you wanted to prove me wrong. If you lack the ambition to do it then-"

"I'll do it." Vergil quickly cut him off and grinned at him. "Thanks." There was nothing behind that grin, just pure happy grin, fitting of a twelve year old, it was a complete contrast to his usual demeanor.

Snape was left unsure of how to respond to this thus he did what he knew he could. "Get to analyzing the burn-healing paste, now."

"Yes sir!" Vergil gave him a small mock salute and went on to his place in the classroom to study the text given to him.

* * *

Halloween feast was the first time the peace was broken in Hogwarts for everyone. And it would be the first of many times it would happen in the years that were to come.

Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall with clear picture of terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped. "Troll, in the dungeons, thought you, ought to know." He then proceeded to faint.

Uproar followed his announcement and it took some firecrackers from Dumbledore himself to bring silence into the hall. "Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

As Slytherin students were being led to their dormitory Vergil saw Snape going in a different direction. By now he knew the man was not the one to waste time, or run. He shifted a bit to the side and slowed down his pace to let the students pass him before swiftly slipping into the shadows, leaning against the wall and letting the darkness cover his presence.

Following Snape would be pointless, but his guts was telling him he should get involved, thus he decided to wait for the man to come back.

* * *

Vergil stood outside of Snape's office waiting for the man to come back. When he saw the man his eyes widened slightly and for the first time in the last months he felt a bit of worry crawling into him.

"Leonidas. What are you doing here?" Snape asked the moment he noticed his student.

Yet all Vergil looked at was the wounded leg. "I doubt a troll can make that kind of wound." He pointed out, sounding way calmer than he actually was.

* * *

 _ **And that's it.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Anime PJ – Last chapter was more focused on the educational side of Vergil's experience at Hogwarts, this one is focused on feelings and thoughts on students and his actual current relationships. So Malfoy thing was touched upon in this chapter. As for Neville, yeah, as small as they are at the moment they do exist, will it develop further down the line is another topic all together. And you are right, at the moment Vergil's bond with Snape is mostly one-sided.**_

 _ **Guest – Yes, I am going to do that.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Dreamless Sleep Potion**_


	6. Dreamless Sleep Potion

_**Chapter 6 – Dreamless Sleep Potion**_

* * *

Vergil stood outside of Snape's office waiting for the man to come back. When he saw the man his eyes widened slightly and for the first time in the last months he felt a bit of worry crawling into him.

"Leonidas. What are you doing here?" Snape asked the moment he noticed his student.

Yet all Vergil looked at was the wounded leg. "I doubt a troll can make that kind of wound." He pointed out, sounding way calmer than he actually was. When Snape didn't honor him with any answer he continued talking. "How did you get injured like that?" The question was direct, even without Vergil motioning at the wound.

"I believe you have, no right to question me, Leonidas. And you have disobeyed Headmaster's orders by, not, being in your common room." Snape emphasized 'not'.

"I can live with that." Vergil replied the flames illuminating the corridor flickered, but even in the dim light he still seemed to have a perfectly good sight.

"Go back to your room." But he made a mistake, his adrenaline was no longer pushing him and the pain was barely bearable. Snape grimaced briefly as he tried to take a step.

"And leave you like that?" Vergil pushed himself from the wall and went to support the potions master. "I'm a half devil, not a heartless monster." He sighed. "Think of it this way, the sooner you let me help you get into the room the sooner I'll head to mine." Vergil said when Snape looked like he'd argue with him.

Vergil opened the doors and helped the man walk in. Snape slumped down on his chair as Vergil searched for anything to bandage the wound with.

"Go to your room." Snape somehow made the bandages fly to him as he lifted the robes up.

Vergil looked at the wound, at the blood that was gushing out of it. It was a really deep wound, the flesh was mangled, a bloody mess…

Yet he wasn't disgusted.

"What did I tell you?" Snape barked impatiently. This was the last thing he needed, a child pitying him.

"Let me." Vergil knelt down on one knee and brought his hand close to the wound. Before Snape could even say anything a sound of crackling made him turn his attention completely to Vergil's hand.

Electricity… The small electric blue sparks…

They surged around Vergil's hand and slowly travelled to Snape's wound.

"I can nullify the voltage enough for it to just numb the leg." Vergil explained. "I've been taught to use them, darkness and lightning and I spent five years learning how to do so." He made a small pause. "In the last year a war broke out, I've seen wounds like this." He muttered. Because that's how it was, once you passed the exams you were a soldier. As one you had to be willing and able to fight if war engulfed the world. You had to fight, you had to make sure you weren't a burden to those stronger than you, and you had to take control when you were the strong one.

* * *

Some time passed and Vergil kept helping Snape out with the wound, despite the man despising the situation he was in.

Vergil took a good look at the bloody and mangled leg, the wound was still quite bad but he supposed it was slowly getting better. Wasting no time he began bandaging the wound.

Someone began knocking on the doors but both of them ignored the knocks. Yet, whoever was knocking pushed the door ajar and peered inside.

Vergil kept wrapping the bandages around Snape's wounded leg.

"Blasted thing. How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?" He noticed Vergil's attention shifting to the doors and immediately saw who was behind them.

"Potter!" Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg.

"I just wondered if I could have my book back." Potter tried to explain.

"GET OUT! OUT!" Snape yelled at him furiously making the boy run without looking back.

"So that's how you look when you lose your cool. Not gonna lie, it's a bit terrifying." Vergil admitted as he went back to wrapping the bandages. He let a small spark travel up and down Snape's now mostly wrapped wound and let out a sigh.

Snape carefully observed the way sparks numbed the pain, this boy was impressive in his own right, he had control over electricity and he could apply it without the danger, meaning that he could numb the area but not electrify it directly. Something that the potions master had to admit he was thankful to; the numbness eased the pain and made walking somewhat easier.

"Anyway, when are you going to tell me what the 'blasted three-headed' thing is?" Vergil's question came out of blue. Snape cursed the fact that the boy chose to get curious right now, meaning that sooner or later he'd start asking questions again.

"Never." Snape replied leaving no space for arguments.

Vergil just let out a sigh.

* * *

While Vergil was dealing with Snape's wound Potter got back to his friends.

"Did you get it?" Weasley asked as Potter joined him and Granger. Seeing as his friend was distraught he got a bit worried. "What's the matter?"

"Snape got hurt by that three-headed dog at Halloween! He was getting his wound bandaged by Leonidas when I went there!" Potter told them what he saw and heard. "You know what this means? He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him, he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to make a diversion!"

Granger's eyes were wide after he said that. "No, he wouldn't, I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."

"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something." Weasley snapped at her. "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"

They didn't know, but another thought came to Granger's mind. "You said Leonidas was bandaging his wound?"

"Yes! He must be working with Snape." Potter concluded.

"He is a bit mental, that Leonidas. I mean even for a Slytherin." Weasley commented.

"That's not very nice Ron. He helped Neville back when we had the first flying lesson, remember?" Granger actually sort of defended him.

"That could have been his way to create cover." Potter argued.

"And he is a Slytherin. No Slytherin would ever help Gryffindor willingly." Weasley added.

With the situation being two on one and argument being about someone she barely talked to once Granger didn't really put up much of a fight.

"I still doubt he's involved in this." She cemented her belief.

* * *

Time passed, apparently Slytherin lost the Quidditch game due to Potter nearly swallowing the snitch and thus technically catching it. Wasn't the goal to catch and not bite the damn thing? Well by now Vergil came to realize that Slytherin wasn't the favorite house in the school. Either way Christmas break was approaching and so came the day in which Snape stepped into the common room and began asking students whether they'd leave or stay at Hogwarts.

"Do you really need to ask me? You know I'm staying." Vergil said when Snape walked up to him.

"As you wish." Snape wrote down Vergil's name and proceeded to the next student.

* * *

Weeks passed with Vergil still concentrating on potions pretty much all day long.

Dreamless sleep potion was a lot harder to make than Vergil guessed it would be, but finally, finally he was getting closer to completing it.

He added the essence of nettle and heated the potion once more. Vergil stirred the content of his cauldron one last time and pointed his wand at it just as Snape walked up to him and began inspecting the potion.

"It can pass." Snape stated and Vergil had to grin.

"So I can drink this instead tonight?" Vergil asked.

Snape seemed to consider it for a few moments. "Perhaps you can."

Half devil smirked and poured the potion into the bottle.

* * *

Zabini woke up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty. When he came back to the room he didn't think he'd find Vergil awake as well. The white haired boy seemed slightly distraught and had sweat sliding down his face.

"What's wrong?" Zabini dared to ask.

"Nothing." Vergil replied.

"Come on Leonidas, we're in the same house, you should trust me." Zabini said and sat down on his bed.

"Trust you?" Vergil repeated, it never really crossed his mind that Slytherins were his housemates, thus his comrades.

"You're strange." Zabini pointed out.

Vergil rolled his eye at that. "Just a bit of a nightmare." He reluctantly admitted. The potion he made worked, only since it was made by him and not by Snape himself it wasn't as strong, it didn't last as long and he woke up about two hours before morning. Carelessly he went back to sleep and ended up having a nightmare. He was somewhat pleased though, for the first time he made the potion it turned out just fine.

Zabini looked at him, then at the red eye, Leonidas was different. Even while being arrogant Zabini could still notice that the boy excelled in potions, he was fine when it came to other subjects as well, but he had this air of seriousness around him, he was kinda intimidating.

* * *

It was on the holidays that Vergil finally decided to talk to Snape once more.

"I want to know how you got injured." He spoke up once he finished making the potion.

"This again? I believe I have, made it clear, Leonidas, that you have no right to, question me." Snape stated, looking at him fairly coldly.

"And I tried to make it clear that I don't feel like being left out." Vergil had to smirk at the professor.

"You have no right to request, any involvement." Snape shut down his request yet again.

"You already let me help you out with your leg." Vergil pointed out.

"This is completely different matter, in case you have not, noticed. Leonidas." Snape even honored him with a small glare.

"So? Look, I'm not a human child that you need to babysit until the age of twenty, I can take care of myself."

"You are to abide to the human rules, furthermore I will not directly involve you in the matter." Snape remained adamant on keeping Vergil out of this.

Vergil kept glaring at him, feeling even more like a child than he was. "Does this have anything to do with Voldemort?" It was a wishful thinking, he kind of hoped the man would arise from the dead just so he could make living hell out of Voldemort's life in one way or another.

Well the chances of that were very slim and judging by Snape's expressionless face he didn't guess it correctly.

"Your childish thinking is clearly going against, your statement that you, are not, a child." Snape replied.

"Fine, I am being childish…" Vergil muttered and looked to the side. He'd give up for now, there was no point in trying to argue with Snape, honestly he had no plan whatsoever, he had the goal set, but a plan on how to get there, absolutely not. He didn't practice at all for more than half a year, he was still in shape enough to run for a bit less than half a mile, maybe even enough to get into a bit of a brawl, but he didn't practice using neither lightning or darkness, besides the times he numbed Snape's wound.

* * *

 _ **And that's it, I think the next two or three chapters will wrap up the first book, this was a bit more of a set up chapter, thus it's this short.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Anime PJ – Thank you, following Snape was the most logical conclusion I had to that scene, plus I need to get Vergil a bit more involved into the entire thing so I went with that decision. You are right about his current relationship with Hermione, there won't be much of it, seeing as she is as of this chapter officially in Golden Trio, so yeah, that went out the window and it won't be coming back in for some time, at least not properly. It will have a bit of an impact, as you'll see in this chapter, real impact will happen when I do accumulate a few other things that come as direct or indirect product of Vergil seeing the wound.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you. Well there certainly will be interactions between Vergil and Golden Trio as time passes, perhaps not too many at first but eventually they'll happen. I look forward to writing them, that's for sure.**_

 _ **Guest – Thanks, glad you like it.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Stubborn Desire**_


	7. Stubborn Desire

_**Chapter 7 – Stubborn Desire**_

* * *

The Christmas break was nearly over with only a few days left. Vergil continued having extra potions with Snape and he was for the most part on his own in the common room. Most of the Slytherin house was from the pure-blood families, thus most of the house left.

"I'm going to take a walk outside the castle, to clear my thoughts a bit." Vergil said when the extra lessons were over.

Snape didn't give him any kind of response, at least not an actual one, but Vergil knew the man heard him.

* * *

Vergil walked outside the castle and ran down the road. Snow had stopped falling but the white veil still covered everything, from the forests and mountains surrounding the area to the hills around the castle. Even the lake froze making the boy smirk. He ran down to one of the shores and lied down on the snow; it's been a long time since he felt as relaxed as he was today.

He looked at the sky, it was clear, a bit surprising given the weather they had lately. The Sun was still pretty high up meaning he still had some time to waste. He lazily glanced toward the nearby forest and saw something.

Some small… horse? With wings? Slowly he stood up and approached it. Upon taking a closer look he noticed that the creature had some reptilian characteristics, its eyes were pure white, a contrast to its black skin and it lacked flesh. He figured it was a foal that got separated from the herd of whatever it was.

The boy sat there, watching the foal, it didn't seem to notice him, which was a bit strange. Most animals either got hostile or scared when he approached them, being part devil was the probably the most responsible for that. Knowing that he figured he'd really suck at any subject that involved creatures. Maybe magical creatures would be somewhat different, if this one was anything to go by.

* * *

The school year continued and the tasks were slowly becoming more and more challenging. McGonagall certainly wasn't joking around when they were learning **Avifors;** a task that proved to be rather hard for Vergil.

 **Avifors** was a spell that transformed the target into a bird and things would probably go smoother for the half human if his image of bird wasn't a bit more demonic. The first creature bird he saw was a demon bird, thus when he envisioned a bird he envisioned that kind of bird, or some kind of crossbreed between birds around here and the birds from his previous home.

So when McGonagall finally reached him he knew he'd be screwed if the bird was complete replica of the demonic birds.

"Well Mr. Leonidas, do proceed." She encouraged him.

"Yes Professor." He closed his eye. The initial image was that of a black thin, nearly skeletal bird with sharp claws, glowing golden eyes and large beak with spikes running down from its neck to the tail. He tried to push the image out of his mind, replace it with something more familiar to the witch. His mind raced and an image of a raven popped in his mind. **"Avifors."** He spoke clearly and pointed his wand. His eye opened and he turned to McGonagall. The witch had an unreadable expression making him look at the bird that flapped its wings but wouldn't dare fly up. It was a raven, a bit thin but still, a raven.

"Very well." She gave him a small praise. "You can improve, regardless it is an acceptable performance."

As McGonagall went to Parkinson the white haired boy closed his eye and let out a barely audible sigh of relief. So far it didn't seem like anyone other than Snape and Dumbledore knew what he was.

* * *

A couple of weeks later Vergil was reading his potions book in the library. The last couple of days were hectic, from one assignment to another. He was getting sleepy as he read the text on the antidote to common poisons.

Slowly, against his will sleep overtook him then and there.

* * *

Demon World, the realm where most devils and demons lived, the place Vergil was born in. The red sky, lack of plants, this realm was far from an ideal sight-seeing location. It was a place torn by countless wars between devils. It was a place so engulfed in battles and bloodshed that it had to make soldiers out of children.

A nine years old Vergil was about to graduate and become a soldier.

But even after four years he spent living with Grom, the one who saved him and one of the most powerful devils to ever live he still had a question in his mind.

"Say, Grom?" He began when they were lying on the riverbank of the dark red river.

The black haired devil, in his mid-twenties turned his head slightly to look at him. "Hm?"

"Why did you save me?" Vergil asked.

"Would you help someone who can't defend themselves? Regardless of who they are?" Grom responded with a question of his own.

"I guess…" Vergil told him.

"See? It's the same thing. So what if you're Leonidas? A child should never get rewarded or punished for the actions of the parents." The raven haired devil told him.

"I don't get it completely, but I think I'm starting to understand." The nine years old muttered.

Grom laughed. "You'll understand one day."

* * *

Granger was on her way out of the library after a long day of studying, they only had ten weeks left until the exams and she was quite frantic about preparing for them. As she went to return the book she borrowed she came across someone she honestly didn't expect to find in the library at this hour.

The fact that he was sleeping was probably the reason why he was yet to leave.

Hermione contemplated whether or not she should wake him up, but eventually she walked up to him. His eye was tightly closed, he looked like he was having a dream and his body seemed tense.

"Leonidas. Leonidas wake up." She called him. Much to her surprise it was enough to make him open his eyes.

"Granger… Looks like I fell asleep." He rubbed his eye a bit before looking at her. "Finished with studying for today?"

"Yes, but there's still so much I need to learn." She seemed worried. Still, there was a hint of excitement behind that statement.

"You're fine with the challenge though, aren't you?" Vergil offered her one of the rare grins.

"Of course." Granger sounded eager; they didn't have that many classes together, but from what Vergil did know her thirst for knowledge was unrivalled. Not really knowing where to go with the conversation she looked at the potions book Vergil had in front of him. "I'm sorry."

White haired boy looked puzzled by her sudden apology. "What for?"

"I said we could study together again and then we never did." She still didn't see him actively being in anyone's company, he seemed like a loner, that was for sure but she figured that at times he probably felt lonely. She certainly did before the Halloween; that was why she asked him to study with her, because he was also on his own.

"Don't worry about it. I've got Snape."

Granger's eyes widened, her mind raced back to Potter's assumptions that Vergil was also involved with the entire Philosopher's Stone thing.

"What's with that look…?" He sounded a bit annoyed. "Snape's not as bad as you think." Yeah, Vergil was definitely annoyed.

"If you're not going to read get out!" Madam Pince interrupted any further conversation.

"Right away." Vergil replied. "Well, sleep well." He stood up and walked out through the doors.

* * *

Vergil took his time to relax, they only had a few weeks left until the exams, everything was peaceful and he even started really enjoying Hogwarts. And then things had to go downhill in the common room.

"He'll get caught." Vergil heard Zabini saying.

"Maybe we should have stopped him." Parkinson said.

"Nah, he's Malfoy, even if he gets caught it doesn't matter." Zabini said.

Vergil closed his eyes. It didn't sit right with him, to just let someone walk into trouble. Even if it was Malfoy. He knew he'd regret this…

* * *

Speaking of Malfoy, he looked like all his ships sank as he was being led by Professor McGonagall to the dungeons.

Now, if it was any other teacher Vergil would attempt to conceal his presence, but this was McGonagall, there was no escaping her.

He watched as the woman's eyes widened angrily when she saw him.

"Professor." Vergil nodded.

"Leonidas…! Detention!" Well that was quick.

Vergil's face remained blank. It probably irritated McGonagall even further.

"And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you…! Come on, both of you!" Her eyes dared Vergil to disobey and the white haired boy just gave in as he followed the woman back to the common room.

* * *

The moment the two stepped into their room Vergil let out a small chuckle.

"Are you mad?" Malfoy looked at him like he had two heads.

"Maybe. But you sure are lucky, of all the teachers you got caught by McGonagall."

"What about you, you just casually greeted her." Malfoy sneered at him.

"There's no point in hiding from her." Vergil pointed out.

Malfoy's eyes suddenly widened. The place Vergil was at… "You didn't come out to find me, did you?"

"It'd leave a bad taste in my mouth if I just let someone walk into the trouble." He admitted and scratched the back of his head. "I messed up the timing though."

"It was blasted Potter's fault. How did he even get past the teachers?" Malfoy wondered.

"That's none of my business." Vergil blankly responded, he went to lie on his bed.

"You're no fun." Malfoy pointed out.

"So I've been told. Go to sleep or do whatever you do with Crabbe and Goyle." The white haired boy spoke way more bluntly than Malfoy was used to.

"Maybe you should choose the better side. Stick with me." Malfoy offered.

"Because of your social status?" Vergil asked, daring the boy to respond affirmatively.

"Well yes. That's how things go." Malfoy reasoned with him.

"Respect is earned by actions, not by blood, Malfoy." Vergil sighed. He took a bottle of dreamless sleep potion and fell into slumber before Malfoy could respond.

Malfoy looked at him one more time and frowned. "My father will hear about this…" He took a small pause. "But you sure are something."

* * *

To say that Snape was not pleased would be an understatement. Malfoy flinched under the slightest of attention Snape gave him. He didn't go on and on about them breaking the rules but he certainly made it clear they knew they would be severely punished.

"You're dismissed." Snape barked and the two boys stood up. "Not so fast, Leonidas, you are to stay here."

Vergil simply nodded at the order.

"As a punishment you are forbidden from extra potion lessons, for a month." He knew exactly where to strike and for the first time Vergil's face fell out of the usual uncaring attitude to the consequences of his actions.

The room that was chilly even on the warmest days suddenly turned even colder for the boy.

"You're joking." He breathed out, his eye wide as saucer.

"I've made myself clear. You're dismissed."

Vergil narrowed his eye, trying to read the man even a bit better. Their eyes clashed but then he felt like his mind was being invaded. He broke the eye contact but the feeling was hard to shake off.

* * *

Snape looked at the potion Vergil prepared a few nights before. He briefly went through the boy's mind, surprised at how defenseless surprise left him.

He made two discoveries, the statement of Vergil seeing war was true. The second was the still apparent desire to get involved into the matter and help him in some way. The boy was stubborn and this desire of his was yet another confirmation of that stubborn attitude.

* * *

Time passed and the night of detention came upon the ones involved. Vergil and Malfoy went to the entrance hall to meet up with a way too eager Filch. The Gryffindor trio was running a bit late and Vergil couldn't help but feel annoyed at the look the man had on his face.

"You sure seem to enjoy yourself." Vergil commented as he leaned against the wall.

"Disrespectful brat." Man muttered under his breath.

Before Vergil could further continue the conversation he heard the trio approaching. Granger, Potter and Neville… He gave a curt nod to the three of them and watched as Potter's green eyes widened slightly.

"Leonidas?" He questioned.

"I got caught up in a few things." Vergil smirked.

"Follow me." Filch interrupted them. He lit a lamp and began leading them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" He was leering at them. "Oh yes... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well-oiled in case they're ever needed... Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."

He sure tried his best to scare them and it worked as Neville kept sniffing.

"Sure gives a 'caretaker' a brand new definition. Really puts emphasis on 'care', wouldn't you agree?" Vergil snarled earning a snicker from Malfoy.

"Quit making this worse Leonidas." Potter berated him.

"Nothing I say will make this any worse." Vergil stated as they walked through darkness, their only light source being the lamp and the moon partially obscured by clouds. Still the boy could make out the shape of a hut.

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started." A voice Vergil recognized from their first night at Hogwarts spoke up. It was none other than Hagrid and apparently that eased Potter's mind.

Filch noticed that and immediately went to inform them of the punishment. "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy, it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

Neville let out a little moan and Malfoy stopped before quickly moving a bit closer to Vergil, obviously the white haired boy's still calm demeanor served as a decent source of slight security.

"The forest?" Malfoy repeated. A hint of fear was evident in his voice. "We can't go in there at night, there's all sorts of things in there, werewolves, I heard."

Similar to how Malfoy moved closer to Vergil, Neville also sought some comfort in his fellow classmate. He clutched the sleeve of Potter's robe and made a choking noise.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" Filch really enjoyed himself, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, a large dog, called Fang, right at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder. "Abou' time, I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Hermione?"

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," Filch once again interfered with the conversation rather coldly. "They're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" Hagrid frowned at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at dawn, for what's left of them." Filch spoke nastily and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.

Malfoy turned to Hagrid. "I'm not going in that forest."

Vergil could clearly hear the panic in his voice.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts. Yeh've done wrong an' now yehve got ter pay fer it." Hagrid replied fiercly.

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this-" But he was quickly interrupted.

"-he'd tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts." Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or Yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on."

Malfoy was furious, but he didn't move, he just glared at Hagrid but eventually dropped his gaze.

Vergil looked up to the sky, he just felt like getting this over with. No complaining would get them out of this, though he did find it ironic that a punishment for breaking a rule involved breaking another rule. One thing was certain, this would be an interesting night.

* * *

 _ **And that's all. As you can see I made some changes and placed answers on reviews here instead of at the top, I figure it might be better to do that. I went and tried to improve the previously published chapters. There aren't any plot relevant changes so there is no need for anyone to go back and reread them, however I would like to get better, to make this story more enjoyable to you as readers; as such I would be very thankful if anyone was willing to provide any constructive criticism on what I can improve in my writing.**_

 _ **Now, concerning the potentially controversial Malfoy scene. Cursed Child may have problems, we can all agree on that, however we can also agree that it did wonders for Draco's character, it shed some light on how he felt watching Harry with Ron and Hermione, while he only had Crabbe and Goyle, not much of a good company. So here is how it is, Harry has something that Draco never had, and it's the very beginning of it. Draco is far from stupid, he sees the way main trio is formed in the first book and I believe that this would be the time he'd want to have the same the most, at least in the first few books. Vergil is probably the first person to ever treat Draco as just Draco, something that in the end is a friend.**_

 _ **From here on out things can go in both ways, whether Draco pursues the closer contact, or decides to stick completely to Crabbe and Goyle. So yeah, I'm really interested in your opinion here.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **i lovedifferentmixesup – Thank you.**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thank you.**_

 _ **Anime PJ – Thanks. Yeah, I'm certainly not going to push Vergil toward Gryffindor, so a bit of mistrust from Harry's side does help with what I'm planning to do.**_

 _ **Brit – Thank you very much. The way story goes Vergil won't have much of a chance to interact with Ron in the first book, but as you can see he now officially met Harry as well. To be frank I'm not trying to push and force a bond between him and the Golden Trio, especially not in the first couple of years.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – The Offer**_


	8. The Offer

_**Chapter 8 – The Offer**_

* * *

The night was chilly, especially given the time of the year as the group of five first year students followed after Hagrid and his dog Fang.

"Right then, now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment." Hagrid led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees.

A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest; the ominous feeling it gave off sent slight shivers down Vergil's spine, his instincts were screaming for him to stay alert.

"Look there, see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery." Hagrid explained their task.

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" Malfoy asked, he was unable to keep the fear out of his voice.

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang." Hagrid seemed quite sure of that. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

Vergil looked at the trails of blood. The devil side taking over he found himself kneeling behind the group and looking at the blood. He touched it… dry… it was probably too late for the animal. If whatever wounded it was still in the forest anyway.

"I want Fang." Malfoy was quick to make a decision, mostly because of Fang's long teeth. "And Vergil!" He quickly added.

"Leonidas." Vergil corrected him.

"All right, but I warn yeh, Fang's a coward." Hagrid agreed. "So me, Harry, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, Vergil, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now." It was a fairly simple spell so none of them had any troubles with doing it.

"That's it, an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh, so, be careful, let's go." Hagrid took lead into the silent forest.

Vergil kept his eyes on the road, noticing subtle signs of movement, the only downside was that he couldn't tell if they were made by the unicorn or not. A little way into it the forest they reached a fork in the earth path and split up. Vergil, Neville, Malfoy and Fang took the right while Granger, Potter and Hagrid took the left.

The moment they separated from Hagrid things went downhill. Fang was, as Hagrid said, quite a coward and he walked down the path with his tail between his legs. Neville, having lost Potter, felt scared out of his mind. Desperate he inched a bit closer to Vergil, the slightly older boy did help him out before.

Vergil closed his eyes, his senses sharpened. He heard a faint sound and concentrated on it.

"What's the matter Longbottom? Where's that Gryffindor courage you guys are boasting about?" Malfoy taunted despite being in a rather similar position as the boy he taunted. He failed to see Vergil's annoyance at that.

Neville looked away, too afraid to even try to respond to the taunts.

"I thought so." Malfoy said smugly.

Another sound got Vergil's attention, it was closer this time and he could somewhat identify it. A sound of something slithering over dead leaves… It was getting closer.

"Shut it." Vergil hissed his voice dangerously low. Fang growled at the Halfling but piped down when he too noticed something.

Neville and Malfoy got closer behind the white haired boy who slowly reached out for his wand. His eye was fixated to the direction of the sound and his pupil widened, taking in as much of light as possible to clear his vision. A figure moved through the trees, close to the ground, perhaps even moving on all fours, hidden by the bushes and the darkness. "Stay here." Vergil said and took a step forward.

"L-Leonidas-" Neville tried to tell him not to go but the white haired boy merely hushed him.

"Just taking a look, stay quiet." Vergil crouched down, slowly as to not disturb the nature around him. The wind was blowing into his face, meaning whatever it was it couldn't smell him that easily, he on the other hand smelt blood and… garlic…? " _What in the world…?_ " He couldn't help but wonder as he saw the creature stopping, this was dangerous, if it saw them beforehand then it would notice that he was no longer with the others.

A drop of sweat slid down his chin and he wiped it off before it could fall to the ground. As silently as he possibly could he reached out for a branch of a tree. The branch was dry, thus it cracked and alerted the creature making it swiftly move. Vergil's eye widened and he turned to the others. "Make a circle, quickly." He took the basic control over the situation just like how he was taught back in the Demon World.

The three boys stood with their backs turned to one another, their wands out.

"Vergil…?" Malfoy breathed out, feeling terrified and anxious even over the wind that caressed his skin.

"There's something around here." Vergil muttered and the dog barked.

"A werewolf?" Neville asked fearfully.

Half devil felt eyes on him, but he couldn't pinpoint the location of the enemy.

"A human… Or something human-like…" Vergil said. "It's light on its feet; it doesn't look heavy and well… I'm not an expert on magical creatures but I'm positive it's something similar to a human, if not a human." If it came to a fight they didn't have much going for them, at least they didn't. Vergil was fairly certain he could put up a fight using the devil abilities he had. But the killing intent that filled the air made it clear to him that this was serious.

Suddenly everything stopped, his blood red eye clashed with a pair of eyes about fifteen feet ahead. The darkness hid the creature, making sure Vergil couldn't further identify it. But the boy could only wonder, how come he didn't notice the creature approaching…? A flock of birds took flight through the night and the creature slipped into the darkness, leaving the trio and the dog alone…

"Where is it?" Malfoy had to ask.

"Maybe I was seeing things, its dark after all." Vergil lied, there was no need for them to be more scared then they already were.

"Nice one Vergil, really." Malfoy snarled; sarcasm and irritation dripping into his voice. He was trying to cover up insecurities with faked act of control; one that Vergil blatantly ignored.

"H-He was just being careful." Neville spoke up timidly.

"Let's just get back to the search." Vergil sighed, he was still being cautious but his posture relaxed on the outside.

* * *

Vergil led the group further down the path, he completely concentrated on their surrounding thus he made a mistake of letting both Malfoy and Neville stay behind him.

A terrified scream and an instinctive firing of the red sparks notified him of the mistake he made. The half devil turned around abruptly to realize what just happened… Malfoy…

The blond laughed loudly at the terrified round faced boy.

Vergil narrowed his eye and then felt mischief overtake him for a few moments. He concentrated on creating a small couple of sparks right behind Malfoy. Nothing dangerous but it certainly would give him a bit of a startle. He smirked and moved the sparks, thus directing them into his fellow Slytherin.

Malfoy jumped and screamed, though it wasn't a scream caused by pain, but rather by fear. Neville's eyes widened and he fearfully looked around looking for the cause of whatever startled Neville. He turned to Vergil who was whistling innocently.

" **Verdimillious**." White haired boy grinned. "We should probably wait, you already alerted the others." Vergil decided to sat down.

"My father will hear about this." Malfoy threatened.

"Do you want me to tell him? I'd be happy to really." Vergil smirked. "Suck it up. You pulled a prank, I returned the favor."

A minute later the sounds of Hagrid's large form approaching them became apparent.

"What happened?!" The man asked the moment he realized there was no harm done to the boys in front of him, in fact the white haired one was just kinda sitting there with his legs crossed and a grin on his face.

"To put it simply a prank." Vergil bluntly stated without a single care in the world. "Where are the other two?" He suddenly got serious, that creature was still somewhere around here and no matter what those two had no chance on their own.

"On the path. I came ter get yeh." Hagrid said.

"Let's go then." Vergil jumped to his feet. He wasn't worried but that didn't mean he wanted to see those two injured or dead because of a prank that separated them from Hagrid.

* * *

Hagrid was busy with the trio, which meant that Granger and Potter were on their own.

The two looked at each other, scared out of their minds, now all they could hear was the rustling of the leaves around them.

"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" Granger whispered.

"I don't care if Malfoy and Leonidas have, but if something's got Neville... it's our fault he's here in the first place." Potter said.

The minutes dragged by. Their hearing was sharper than usual and they were picking up even the slightest sounds around them. Hagrid was taking too long… At last he returned, fuming, yes, but with others nonetheless.

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you three were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups, Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an' these idiots." Hagrid made the new arrangements and they were set to go once more.

* * *

Half an hour of walking later the three boys delved deeper into the forest; in fact the path became nearly impossible to follow because the trees were quite thick. Speaking of thicker, the blood Vergil noticed was getting thicker as well. And there was more of it.

He stopped and Potter stopped Malfoy.

"Look." Potter murmured as he held out his arm.

Something bright white was gleaming on the ground in the clearing. They inched closer. It was the unicorn, a dead one at that. A familiar sound of slithering reached Vergil's ears and he pulled Potter back. The boy clearly wanted to turn back to face Vergil but the sound, which was now clear to him and Malfoy as well made him freeze.

A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered...

Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground just like some stalking beast. Potter, Malfoy and Fang were transfixed as the cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.

"AAAAARGH!" Malfoy let out a terribly loud scream and bolted along with Fang, leaving the frozen potter and Vergil on their own.

The cloaked figure raised its head and looked right at the duo; unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. Vergil reached out for his wand, his mind racing for some spell that could be even remotely used as an offense… The figure got to its feet and came swiftly toward them.

"Run." Vergil muttered but then realized the boy was paralyzed with fear. "Great." Vergil hissed. He took a closer look at the quickly approaching figure; it looked familiar for some reason. He heard hooves behind them, galloping. Something jumped over them and charged at the figure. They were safe but this would be for nothing if he didn't get any information out of this. "Get Potter out of here!" He yelled at the newcomer, hoping that it wouldn't be a mistake to leave Potter with whoever this was, and bolted after the figure.

Barely a few moments passed before he realized he made a mistake, not with actions concerning Potter, but with what he was doing. He was in a forest he didn't know, with something he knew nothing about and who knows what other creatures he also knew nothing about. "I'm a genius." He had to compliment himself.

He raised his hand and reached out for the bandages covering his right eye. A sound of slashing made him stop abruptly and jump back.

Blood dripped down his right hand and he took a brief look at a cut on the back of his wrist. That would have been his neck if he hadn't jumped away. Staying in one spot was a rookie mistake, one he didn't plan on repeating. But running blindly could be fatal, instead he concentrated, feeling the killing intent directed right at him me made a feint by jerking to the right and then abruptly heading to his left side. A decent move seeing as the area where he would have been had he taken the right route was hit by an explosion.

Boy jumped into the bushes and grabbed a dried branch, he needed to make a counterattack. The wind was blowing into his face, but he didn't know if it was carrying his scent to his enemy. He assumed that was the case because he couldn't smell blood. His heart drummed against his chest as he threw the branch to the side. He rushed forward behind a tree and watched as the branch got cut in half reminding him of the cut he was gripping, desperate to prevent any noises from alerting the enemy he gripped at his cut wrist.

The robes were annoying him, preventing him from moving properly. He slipped out of them and put them over the tree. He took his wand and made a motion to cast **Verdimillious** **Duo** over the robes making them slightly electrifying. If he was silent enough it could be a bit of a distraction as well.

Slowly Vergil stepped away from the tree and moved around the area, he walked backwards with wind constantly hitting his back. That way he hoped he'd smell blood behind him and see if the enemy was approaching him. His breathing was calm, contradicting the way his body reacted, contradicting the way his heart skipped a beat when he smelt the blood and darted to the side as quickly as he could. He hid in the bushes and observed as the figure walked by just about five feet away from him. It was definitely someone familiar, but he still couldn't recognize them.

" **Wingardium Leviosa** …" He muttered under his breath and manipulated his robes to move slightly. The creature moved toward them making Vergil smirk. He wasn't going down without a fight. Slowly he pushed his body up. The attacker got right by the robes when Vergil directed them to cover the creature.

He'd be stupid if he thought that would be enough, to hell with **Verdimillious Duo** doing the job it was supposed to, he wasn't going in for that, he just needed a diversion. " **Flipendo**!" He roared and the creature formed a sort of a shield solely based on the direction from which Vergil's voice came. Yet the knockback never reached the shield. He didn't have one, but two diversions. He lunged forward and slammed his fist into the figure, right in the side of the head.

Vergil knew his punch wasn't going to be enough, but he lost the element of surprise, all that for minimal results. Still going like this, risking this much without any information. He reached out and pulled his robes off the man. His eyes widened when he recognized the man. The scent of garlic made sense now. "Quirrell?"

"Yes, me." His voice, he sounded tired, but confident. This was in no way the stuttering Quirrell Vergil knew. "You do understand that you are at my mercy here, don't you?"

It was true, instead of running Vergil remained staring down at the Professor. Wind brought a scent of blood to his nostrils and he narrowed his eye. His own blood dripped onto the ground where he stood and it was the only sound out of place in the forest. Boy didn't even bother with raising his wand, he had nothing to counter Quirrell, nothing human…

"Join us, Leonidas, with Him guiding you, you could do great things." Quirrell made an offer that honestly surprised the half devil.

"Him?" Vergil asked curiously.

"Lord Voldemort." Quirrell said honestly.

"I'm not all that into unicorn blood, so I think I'll skip." Vergil smirked, stalling for time as he took a step back, searching for the best escape route; he had no other choice here. "I don't care about anything going on around here, I'm loyal only to Professor Severus Snape and no one besides him." Vergil refused and jumped to the side, fully expecting an attack. Something that never came.

' _No, let Severus nurture him, he'll be of more use once he grows up.'_ The instruction Quirrell received was clear, thus he let Vergil get away.

* * *

Quirrell was professor. Vergil figured something was going on when Snape was wounded like that on Halloween, but this… His mind was racing as he ran back to where the clearing was; from there he could find his way out of the forest. The blood soaked his hand, he made the wound slightly worse by throwing a punch like that, but he'd survive.

Quirrell was also too weak for his liking. Regardless of how incompetent he appeared to be as a teacher he should have been able to kill Vergil.

Yet, the only question he had in mind was who he could trust. Only one name popped up. Snape. He was the only one Vergil was willing to trust.

And when he ran into the small clearing and came across the others he remained silent.

"Leonidas!" Granger was the first who noticed the slightly startled looking boy.

"Hey." He sounded and looked breathless; furthermore he didn't really know how to respond.

"Where were yeh?!" Hagrid roared at him, half worried half angry at the first year student he was towering over.

"No idea. I got separated." Vergil tried to explain but his mind still wouldn't let him think reasonably.

"Your wrist." Granger immediately reached out for his right arm, checking the still bleeding wound.

"It's fine Granger." Her reaction brought him out of his brief trance and he sighed, the rush of adrenaline was over. "I fell."

"What happened to your robes?" Potter asked.

"Mind your own business Potter." Malfoy spat before Vergil could reply to Potter.

"No one asked you." The tension between Potter and Malfoy was apparent.

"And I don't see why you'd be concerned about my robes, Potter." Vergil grew agitated, the boy was acting all brave now, but when the moment to really be brave came he froze in fear.

The one to stop all the tension was Hagrid who had enough of them fighting.

* * *

A bit later Vergil and Malfoy finally entered the Slytherin common room and pretty much dragged themselves to their room.

Their roommates were soundly sleeping and Vergil pretty much tossed himself onto the bed, too tired to even do that task properly.

"Hey, hey Vergil…" Malfoy muttered.

"Leonidas…" Vergil corrected weakly.

"That thing we saw…" Malfoy ignored the correction.

"Yeah?"

"That's what you saw before, right?" Vergil's eyes widened slightly at the question. He found himself slightly surprised, but figured that Malfoy was smart enough to piece two and two together.

"It was." There was no point in lying.

"How could you stay so calm…?" Malfoy had to ask.

Vergil remained silent for a few moments, causing Malfoy to believe he fell asleep.

"We'll swap stories some other time, rest now." Vergil said and raised his fist. He pointed it at Malfoy and turned to smirk at him.

Malfoy's eyes widened at the gesture. He had never done anything similar to what Vergil was initiating right now, slowly he curled his fingers and formed a fist. Cautiously he raised it and moved it toward Vergil's.

Vergil pushed himself a bit out of the bed and bumped his fist against Malfoy's.

"Vergil then?" Malfoy assumed.

Vergil's smirk shifted into a grin. "Vergil." Malfoy was a bit of a spoiled brat, a bit of a bully. But underneath all that, Vergil saw something else.

"Good night, Vergil." Malfoy said.

"Yeah, good night Draco." Vergil finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

The first thing in the morning, before other students were even up Vergil was outside of Snape's personal room. Knocking on the doors and waiting for the man to come out.

Despite being early in the morning Snape was already in his regular attire. He took one look at the child in front of him and motioned him to come in without a single word. Vergil was tired, but more than anything he was uncertain of what to think.

"Talk." That one word was enough for Snape to get Vergil to do exactly what he had requested. Snape listened carefully as Vergil told him about what happened, about Quirrell, the unicorn blood, the offer Quirrell made… he didn't leave a single detail out.

"Why unicorn blood?" Vergil asked once he finished the story.

"The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but, at a cost of, a cursed life." Snape explained making Vergil sigh.

"Great. Voldemort's buying time, right?" Vergil guessed. Snape remained silent but the white haired boy knew it was the truth. "That explains why Quirrell couldn't kill me back there. He was weakened by unicorn's blood, rather by the curse it carried, plus he underestimated me due to being a child. Combination of the two gave me an upper hand." Vergil concluded.

What he didn't notice was the way Snape looked at him, the man seemed just a tiny bit more relaxed than usually. Perhaps after a year of teaching Vergil the potions and all the contact they had the older man grew to feel somewhat relieved due to the brat coming out of this alive.

* * *

The time for exams came and Vergil honestly didn't worry too much, he dealt with written exams and then he had some practical exams as well. Such as, Professor Flitwick calling students one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tapdance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox.

Snape's was the easiest to Vergil as he easily made a Forgetfulness potion. Over the course of the year the only subject Granger wasn't the best at were the Potions, the title of the year's best potion student belonged to Vergil. Everything else was about average or slightly above average.

* * *

A week passed and the end-of-year feast was upon them. When Vergil walked in he saw the Great Hall decked out in the Slytherin colors of green and silver, his house had won the house cup, seventh year in a row as well.

Dumbledore arrived and the silence enveloped the room as the students looked at their Headmaster.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts..." Vergil had to grin at that, the man was eccentric, that was for sure but Vergil kind of liked the man because of the attitude he had. "Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

Entire Slytherin table erupted in cheers. Draco even banged his goblet on the table. Vergil celebrated as well, he raised his goblet and let out a cheer, for once acting childish.

"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin, however, recent events must be taken into account." The room went very quiet and Vergil knew where this was heading. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little. "Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes... First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley… for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Gryffindors began cheering and it was a prelude to the fall of Slytherin.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger... for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Yeah, it was over.

"Third, to Mr. Harry Potter..." Dumbledore caused the room to go deadly quiet. "For pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

The score was now even. "Wait for it…" Vergil muttered

Dumbledore raised his hand.

"Here it is." He knew it…

The room gradually fell silent. "There are all kinds of courage." Dumbledore was smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

Vergil let out a sigh, Draco next to him looked absolutely horrified, the victory slipped out of their fingers…

"Which means." Dumbledore called over the storm of applause. Even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin. "We need a little change of decoration." He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place.

"Well, whatever." Vergil leaned against the wall. For the first time it was truly clear to him how much the Slytherin house was on one side while the other three were on the other one. The entire school was celebrating their downfall.

* * *

On the train Vergil found an empty compartment, not that it remained that way for a while as Draco entered, followed by his brainless buddies, Crabbe and Goyle. Blond sat down next to Vergil and despite Vergil not really interacting with the trio he somewhat relaxed.

* * *

Vergil stood with Snape at the side of the train station. Kind's Cross was as crowded as always.

"Come on." There was only one meaning behind those words and he saw it in Snape's eyes. He'd spend the summer with Snape. He was going home in a way.

"Yes sir!" Vergil gave him a small salute and followed.

* * *

 _ **Philosopher's Stone - Finished**_

* * *

 _ **And that's it. With this chapter the first book has been completed. We still have a long way to go but I am pleased with the way this story is going. Anyway this chapter also had a first somewhat of an action scene, something that I'm quite comfortable writing if I can say so myself, I have to say it will be fun to write them as the story goes on, especially once the latter half of the story kicks in.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **SB- Potterhead Budgie Lover – Thank you for the review.**_

 _ **Echo – Thanks for the review.**_

 _ **Anime PJ – Thanks for the compliments, I'm glad you think so. I agree, Draco and Vergil being friends could change a lot of things later on.**_

 _ **Brit – Thanks. Well it depends on what exactly you consider Draco's true self. I do have the way story will go planned out, but when it comes to the pace of relationships I just go with the flow.**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thanks, I'll try.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Book – Chamber of Secrets**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – From Bad To Worse**_


	9. From Bad To Worse

_**Book 2 – Chamber of Secrets**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 9 – From Bad To Worse**_

* * *

Cokeworth wasn't exactly the best place to live in, that much was clear to Vergil way back when he got there. But Snape seemed attached to the place for some reason and that was enough for Vergil to be fine with it as well.

The last year was a bit of a sudden disgrace when he had to accept charity from not only Snape but Hogwarts as well to buy books. This year he had other plans. To make money. And in a town like Cokeworth it wasn't that difficult.

It was still quite early, but he was in the kitchen, preparing eggs for breakfast. Making food wasn't really something he thought of learning properly before, but given the circumstances he kind of had to. Snape being Snape and all… The boy was quite far from calling himself a cook, but he could make the basics. He set two plates with eggs down, covered the other one and ate his portion. The other plate would wait for Snape who was busy with potions.

Having finished his breakfast Vergil proceeded with his daily routine, going to the nearby newspaper stand.

He reached it and was greeted by a grumpy nod from the older man. A package with fifty newspapers awaited him; that was his way of earning some money, delivering the newspaper to a couple of streets in the town. It was about as profitable as he could get given his age. So two pounds per day; every day for a bit over two months.

As he went through the empty town finishing his task he had to grin. Given his appearance he also had to find some job that would make the contact with people as minimal as possible. Making early morning delivery a perfect job.

* * *

Then, one day the letter containing the books required for the second year arrived. On that day Vergil should have recognized the telltale signs of incoming disaster, he probably would have, had he known just a bit more about wizarding world, especially the modern side of it.

* * *

 _SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:_

 _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk_

 _Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart_

 _Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart_

 _Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart_

 _43 Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart_

 _Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart_

 _Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart_

 _Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart_

* * *

"We're getting a big fan of this man for a teacher, eh?" Vergil pointed out once he read the list.

"You have no idea." Vergil raised an eyebrow at that, confused as to what exactly Snape's words meant.

"Well, whatever. I've got 140 pounds, I think I should be able to manage." Vergil assumed, but it was more of a question as he looked at the potions master.

The man however pulled out twenty galleons. "Lockhart's books are expensive." That was all he needed to say.

Vergil had to chuckle at that, seventy days and he still needed Snape's help to get the money needed for books. "Next year I guess. When do I get going?"

"You'll use Floo Powder, on Wednesday." Snape responded, granting Vergil the permission to go and get the buying of books and everything else necessary on his own.

"And why didn't we use it last year?" Vergil questioned.

"You are required to know more than, one way to get, into the Diagon Alley." It wasn't a requirement as in law, but rather a necessary knowledge in case it was needed.

The half devil nodded and leaned against the chair. A few more days to go and he'd be back at Hogwarts.

* * *

Wednesday came and Snape passed a pot with Floo powder to Vergil.

"So I throw it into the flames, step in and say the location clearly?" Vergil went over the instructions Snape gave him.

"Correct."

Vergil threw the powder into the flames and it turned emerald green. It also towered over him giving him enough space to step into.

"Diagon Alley." He said the moment he stepped into the fire.

Next thing he knew he was in the Diagon Alley, feeling nauseous and sick but other than that fine. "I think I'm leaning more toward Leaky Cauldron." He muttered, slowly getting frustrated with himself. "Come on damn it. He didn't teach me for nothing."

Shaking his head a bit he began walking through the crowded Diagon Alley.

* * *

Vergil entered the Gringotts Wizarding Bank, the place was filled with goblins and wizards, looking around he noticed a nearby goblin.

"Say, where can I exchange money?" He asked, perhaps in a bit of a rude manner. He didn't like crowds so he didn't exactly care.

"Go to Ragnok's office." The reply was spoken in an equally rude manner.

"Thanks." Vergil grinned a bit and went toward the office goblin pointed him at.

It was easy to find, with the goblin's name being written on the doors, so he knocked and entered.

"Ragnok, I assume." Vergil greeted him with a subtle nod.

"Yes." The goblin replied.

"I'm here to exchange money. 140 pounds for 28 Galleons, 6 Sickles and 22 Knuts." Vergil cut to the point as he placed the money on the table.

Ragnok looked at him; then proceeded to count the money. When he confirmed the money was real and that the amount said was the amount given he retrieved the sought money from somewhere.

"Sign here and leave." Ragnok grumbled and gave Vergil the document and a quill.

Vergil put his signature on the paper and passed it back to the goblin. He took the money and left, that was one job done.

* * *

Flourish and Blotts was crowded, way more than it was last year. And most of the people inside were females, most likely mothers of the students.

"Calmly, please, ladies… Don't push, there… mind the books, now…" The harassed-looking wizard tried to control the crowd and Vergil felt pity for him.

* * *

' _GILDEROY LOCKHART_

 _will be signing copies of his autobiography_

 _MAGICAL ME_

 _today 12:30P. 4:30P.M.'_

* * *

"So that's why." Vergil realized, he even considered waiting for the crowd to clear but he didn't want to waste so much time. He found his way in through the crowd and slowly began collecting the books he needed. "5 Galleons for one book, ridiculous." He muttered when he saw that each of Lockhart's books was exactly what Snape said, expensive.

What he saw next would probably stay burnt into his mind. A man, most likely Lockhart, surrounded by large pictures of his own face all of which were winking and flashing people with pure white teeth. Lockhart himself was wearing blue robes matching his eyes and a pointed wizard's hat that was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair. All in all the man was looking like a definition of a narcissist. All that was left to see was if he was, in fact, a narcissist.

Suddenly Lockhart leapt to his feet. "It can't be Harry Potter?" He sounded excited.

The crowd began whispering excitedly as the man dove head first, forward and grabbed Potter's arm. The boy was pulled to the front and an applause so loud Vergil had to cover his ears erupted in the shop. Still, it was clear to the white haired boy that Potter wasn't having the time of his life, if the fact that his face was as red as a tomato was anything to go by.

"I somewhat pity the guy." Vergil said to himself as Lockhart finally let go of Potter's hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Lockhart said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography; which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge-" The crowd applauded. "-He had no idea-" Lockhart continued, giving Potter a little shake. "-That he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, 'Magical Me'. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September; I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

So that's what Snape was talking about...

As crowd cheered and clapped and Potter was given the books Vergil looked at the books just purchased. He then looked at Lockhart. Then back at the books. The man was clearly capable of writing, if books were something to go by he'd be much better than Quirrell. On the other hand he clearly was a narcissist.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" It was a voice Vergil could easily recognize and it was filled with jealousy. Draco's voice. Vergil looked up from the side and saw the sneering boy. "FamousHarry Potter." Draco put emphasis on 'famous'. "Can't even go into a bookshopwithout making the front page."

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" A ginger girl, probably Weasley, given the fact that the three male Weasleys that attended the Hogwarts were there as well glared at Draco.

"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" Draco drawled as Vergil made his way over. As the female Weasley went scarlet her brother and Granger also fought their way over.

"Oh, it's you." Weasley said as if seeing Draco was the least pleasant thing that could happen to him during the day. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley." Retorted Draco. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those." At that Weasley went as red as his sister.

"Cut it out Draco." Vergil finally reached them.

Draco seemed genuinely surprised but a bit happy to see him. "Vergil. How come you didn't tell me you'd be here?"

"We're not that close. Anyway cut it out, you're attracting too much attention." Vergil said, his red eye clashed with Draco's grey ones.

Weasley, on the other hand had enough and would have went toward Draco if he wasn't held back by Granger and Potter.

"Ron!" They heard Mr. Weasley, struggling over with the twins. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

"Well, well, well, Arthur Weasley." Vergil turned at the familiar voice of Lucius Malfoy, sneering at the older Weasley in the way his son would.

"Lucius." Mr. Weasley nodded coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear. All those raids… I hope they're paying you overtime?" Vergil's eye widened slightly, the posture, the tone…

Mr. Malfoy reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_. "Obviously not." Mr. Malfoy said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either of his children. "We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy."

"Clearly." Mr. Malfoy spoke; his pale eyes strayed to the other two adults. "The company you keep, Weasley… and I thought your family could sink no lower." And that's when Vergil pieced everything together. Draco, influenced by his father, grew up to be the spoiled brat. It was in the family… It was the blood that he had no reason to detach himself from… Draco was just like he was, before his mother died.

"Hey, come with me." Vergil said to Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, may I request a bit of time to catch up with Draco?" Vergil asked, acting as carefully as he could. He didn't receive an answer as Mr. Weasley threw himself at Mr. Malfoy. "Well so much for that. Let's go." Vergil grinned as he pulled the slightly terrified Draco along.

"Vergil we shouldn't! Father will get mad when he finds out I left." Draco cried out.

"I'll take the blame, come on, let's get an ice-cream." Vergil led the blond boy down the street to the Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"Yes?" The shop keeper froze when he saw Draco.

"Two chocolate ice-creams. Without any additions." Vergil stated and gave the man six Sickles.

"Hey-" Draco tried to complain.

"Enjoy simple things." Vergil cut him off.

Draco was mostly talk and nothing but talk, he was a bully and spoiled, but he wasn't dominant. When clashing with Vergil's dominant, blunt personality he was left with only one choice, to while and complain, but he figured it was for nothing.

"My father will hear about this." Draco grumbled.

"Go ahead and tell him." Vergil said and actually bit into his ice-cream."

"Shouldn't you lick it?" Draco asked as they sat on one of the benches near the shop.

"Does it taste differently?"

"No, not really. It's good." Draco muttered.

"See? And it's just a simple chocolate. Anyone can get it, pure-blood, half-blood, muggle born, half-breed, anyone. And it tastes the same for everyone."

"I bet Weasleys can't even imagine anything better." Draco sneered.

"But it feels better when you eat something with others. It's more fun, isn't it?" Vergil asked, Weasley's were a family and seeing Draco's reaction to his father made Vergil further realize that they weren't so different. "They are a family. Neither one of us can say we have that."

"I have a family." Draco sounded insulted.

"Why were you afraid then? Family is supposed to make you feel safe." Vergil pointed out. "You aren't stupid. Blood, status, when it comes down to it if you can't have a feeling of belonging somewhere it doesn't matter. And you can't feel like you belong if you have to force it of if you feel scared." The red eye turned to the Draco who seemed like he didn't have anything to say.

"You're wrong." He eventually said.

"Leave then." The half devil suggested.

Yet Draco didn't leave. Not even when Mr. Malfoy showed up.

"Draco…!" The man hissed.

Instinctively Draco leaned just a bit closer to Vergil.

"It was my fault." Vergil got Mr. Malfoy's attention.

"Mr. Leonidas." Mr. Malfoy greeted him.

"Please, Sir, I'm but a child, do not treat me with such courtesy." He wasn't stupid, he knew he had to play his cards right, he bowed his head slightly, enough to hide a subtle smirk from Mr. Malfoy but not from Draco.

Mr. Malfoy observed him, feeling slightly pleased with the respect Vergil was showing to him. "You said this was your fault. Could you explain that, Vergil?"

"Of course, Sir. I had merely wanted to do a bit of catching up with Draco, we haven't seen each other for quite some time. You were in the middle of a conversation and I didn't wish to bother you. Please accept my sincere apology, I would have never imagined it would cause any troubles." He could feel both Draco's and Mr. Malfoy's eyes on him. Draco was probably as shocked as he could get.

"Do not apologize, I was merely worried about my son. I've heard a lot about you from Draco, perhaps you could visit us during Christmas break." Mr. Malfoy invited him.

"It would be my honor." Vergil said. Slowly, slowly but surely he'd get Draco out of this mess.

"Good, now shall we go back homes? I assume you're staying with Severus." Mr. Malfoy guessed.

"Yes, I am." Vergil replied and he and Draco followed after Draco's father.

"You know, I really did tell my father a lot about you." Draco whispered making Vergil smirk a bit.

* * *

When Vergil got home he just looked at Snape. "You know, back in the Demon World there used to be a saying, 'Though across may be more urgent, around is closer.' In other words, I'd rather not use Floo powder again."

* * *

 _ **And that's it.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thanks, I'll do my best.**_

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* * *

 _ **Next Chapter -**_ _ **Gilderoy Lockhart**_


	10. Gilderoy Lockhart

_**Chapter 10 – Gilderoy Lockhart**_

* * *

It was quite pleasant last year, but Vergil had to admit riding the train to Hogwarts this year felt really good. Looking slightly back the first year was difficult to deal with, the devil side of him being a more dominant one and all. Which was to be expected as the only human he had contact with before coming here was his mother; even that wasn't for a very long time if he was being honest.

Slowly he was starting to feel more like a human than a devil. He could never be a human, but he didn't even consider reaching out to the devil powers he had over the course of summer vacation. He felt no need for them. He sort of slacked off a bit; while still being able to exercise and engage in somewhat of a scuffle he knew he couldn't put up much of a fight.

He was brought out of his thoughts by knocking. It was Granger. Vergil motioned for her to come in and she did.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked.

"Why would I?" Vergil smirked slightly. "Shouldn't you be with Potter and Weasley though?"

"I can't find them, they surely didn't miss the train." Granger seemed to be saying that more so to assure herself.

The two fell into a bit of a silence, not in any way uncomfortable as Granger read 'Year with the Yeti' and Vergil kept looking through the window.

An hour later their comfortable silence was broken by none other than Draco, Crabbe and Goyle.

"What's she doing here?" Draco seemed annoyed by Granger's presence.

"Sitting, Draco. It's a common activity on trains." Vergil remarked making Granger look at him incredulously.

"I can see that!" Draco went a bit red at the obvious answer he received. "But why here? With you."

Vergil regarded Draco with a puzzled look as Granger seemed to be preparing to get up and leave, if closing her book was anything to go by.

"Is there any reason why she shouldn't sit here?" Vergil had to ask.

"She's a Mudblood!" Draco exclaimed. Granger, though unaware of the meaning of the word figured it was an insult.

"Malfoy…" Apparently so did Vergil. Draco froze slightly at the sudden reverting to the last name basis. "I'm guessing that's an insult. So get out before I get up." Vergil's voice was cold and he certainly seemed serious.

Crabbe and Goyle were ready to step in front of Draco but the boy stopped them.

"I didn't want to be in her company anyway." Draco spat and turned to leave.

A few moments passed before either Vergil or Granger said anything.

"So… Have we ever actually talked? Like a proper conversation?" Vergil blurted out suddenly, is a rather clumsy way as well.

"Well… I guess not." Granger said, now that their peace was disrupted they weren't sure how to go back to it.

"Would you like to try?"

There was a bit of hesitation.

"Sure." She finally responded and Vergil had to smirk.

"This is pathetic. 'Would you like to try?' Like I was talking about breaking every rule possible without getting caught and not just talking." The white haired boy felt quite idiotic for the way he approached the topic.

Granger seemed to relax a bit as well. "How do you like Hogwarts?" She began.

"It was hard to get used to it, but the more time passed the more I liked it. It's certainly not what I was used to before. You?" Vergil replied.

"Honestly, it's amazing. All the things we get to learn and everything about magic. I never imagined something like this would be real a year ago. Spending time with Harry and Ron, having friends I can relate to…" She had a bright smile on her face as she spoke about the school. "And we even won the House Cup." Granger pointed out.

"Don't get me started on how cheated I feel when it comes to that." Vergil had to tease.

"We won it fair and square." Granger pointed out, arguing with him just a little bit.

"You broke our hearts. We were celebrating our victory, the year was over and then you came in and took it." He was clearly teasing and she could see it on his face. Furthermore he sounded so melodramatic it could be the only possible explanation.

"Oh shut up."

"How will we keep talking then?"

The two chuckled a bit and kept chatting every now and then about small things to pass time.

* * *

That night Vergil lied on his bed waiting for Draco to come by. When the boy finally came, perhaps by some miracle on his own, Vergil sat up. "Mind telling me what a 'Mudblood' is?" Vergil requested.

"Granger. Filthy Muggle-born unworthy of learning magic." Draco said arrogantly.

Vergil's eye narrowed slightly. "She's better than anyone in our year. How is that unworthy? Blood isn't everything Draco."

"Yes it is." Draco argued.

Vergil wondered whether he should keep the argument going. He chose not to, for two simple reasons. While Granger was definitely not a random person he couldn't care less about she was still not quite important to him. Furthermore there was no point in arguing over this with Draco, he was stuck in belief that he was superior and that was the end of it.

Right now it would be like talking to a wall.

* * *

The next morning was moderately peaceful, the very first morning of the school year. Many owls had come to the Great Hall, some delivering letters, some forgotten things and one in particular brought forth a device that would turn moderately peaceful to extremely loud.

Vergil was in the middle of putting a bit of sausage into his mouth when the unpleasant surprise came.

"—STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE —"

Vergil bit down on his fork so hard it sent a shiver down his spine; he forced himself to swallow as the yells that shook the entire hall made his eardrums hurt.

"—LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED —ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED — YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

It seemed like the torture was over.

"The hell was that?" Vergil had to ask Draco who was sitting next to him.

"The Howler. I didn't know Weasleys could get any redder, just look at him." Draco relished in the moment.

Vergil sighed, perhaps there wasn't much he could do over the course of the next couple of years, but he'd still try to make small steps.

"Come on, let's just try to eat while our hearing is recovering." Vergil returned to his meal.

* * *

The first class of the year for Slytherin second years was Defense Against the Dark Arts, it was the moment of truth, would Lockhart be a narcissistic competent professor or merely a narcissistic professor.

Draco sat down next to Vergil who took the seat all the way back and took the books out.

Lockhart cleared his throat quite loudly before he reached out and took Parkinson's copy of 'Year with the Yeti', he held it up thus showing his portrait.

"Me." He winked. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smilingat her!"

He received absolutely no response from his new students, none of them laughed. All he got were the blank stares from most of the boys and dreamy looks from most of the girls.

"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books; well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about, just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in." With that he began handing out the test papers. "You have thirty minutes, start… now!"

Vergil felt somewhat pleased with the approach Lockhart was taking, maybe this wouldn't be so bad. And then he saw the questions. "Kill me, please." He couldn't suppress himself.

"This guy is ridiculous." Draco said.

"For once we completely agree." Vergil had to admit. "Well… Let's do this." He took the quill and began writing.

"You actually know the answers?!" Draco hissed at him as silently as he possibly could.

"Take a better look." Vergil smirked.

'What is Gilderoy's favorite color?'

And underneath was the answer: 'A color he likes the most.'

Draco snickered at that and Vergil kept smirking with a strange sense of satisfaction.

'What is Gilderoy's Lockhart's secret ambition?'

'Something he wants to do the most.'

'What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?'

'Something he did.'

The questions went on and on.

'How many times has Gilderoy Lockhart won Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award?'

'A number of times.'

On and on until question 54 which was: 'When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday and what would his ideal gift be?'

The answer being: 'Every year on the same day. The ideal gift being something he wants.'

A few minutes later Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class.

Vergil ignored the man's constant rumbling about each and every question.

"But Mr. Leonidas-" At the sound of his last name Vergil had to look at the man. "-I must say though none of your answers are correct you certainly got guts. Take five points for Slytherin for pure effort to answer the questions." He made a small pause. "Of course I am sure you simply couldn't phantom that I would teach you and now your excitement got the better of you." The man beamed at him and even winked.

Vergil looked incredulous, was this guy joking around… "Ridiculous." He muttered as Draco tried to cover up his laughter.

"And now to business." He bet down behind his desk and lifted a large covered cage onto it. "Now, be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."

Vergil rolled his eyes. They were already facing horrors, of being taught by this man. On the other hand most of his classmates began taking this seriously.

"I must ask you not to scream." Lockhart requested in a low voice. "It might provoke them."

The half devil was barely interested as the professor whipped off the cover.

"Yes. Freshly caught Cornish pixies." Nope, there would be no surprises… "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!" Electric blue pixies about eight inches long with pointed faces, yes, so very dangerous.

"To you." Vergil's comment drew a smirk back to Draco's face.

"Right, then," Lockhart said loudly. "Let's see what you make of them!" And he opened the cage.

Pixies shot in every direction like rockets. They shot through the window, showering the back row with glass, others began ripping books and spraying the ink around. They would charge at students that barely had time to jump out of the way as they screamed. All in all the classroom turned into small hell.

"He's mental!" Draco shouted to Vergil.

"And this is good opportunity to get rid of this." He showed Draco a copy of 'Break with a Banshee' and tore it in half. "This is a mess." He chunked the half of the book at pixie that went after Bulstrode, thus successfully making it sway a bit.

"Good one, now keep going!" Lockhart praised him.

Vergil's eye twitched as he turned and saw a pixie flying near Lockhart. Smirking he threw the other half of the book right at the teacher, exactly when a pixie was flying next to Lockhart. "Oops, I missed." He let the sarcasm slip through his voice as the thrown half struck the teacher right in the face. Next to him Draco seemed to enjoy himself.

"That does it." Lockhart grew a bit frustrated. He pulled out his wand. " **Peskipiksi Pesternomi!** " he bellowed and absolutely nothing happened.

"So useless." Vergil muttered as Lockhart's wand was thrown out by the pixie. The professor, being as competent as he was ducked under the table.

"Vergil…!" Draco cried out as three pixies flew right toward them.

" **Verdimillious Duo.** " He shot the green sparks at the creatures, electrifying them in the process. "Hey, Professor! How about we deal with these pixies for let's say 50 points for Slytherin?" Vergil asked.

"Yes! Go ahead, I will happily present you with the points." Lockhart called out from his place under the table.

"Wands out! Let's show these troublemakers what Slytherin is made of!" Vergil exclaimed, riling up his classmates into action.

"You should have asked for more." Zabini smirked at him and was the first one to comply with the white haired boy who struck a few of the pixies with a simple **Flipendo**.

"Let's keep the game fair, we don't want to shut down all the hopes other houses have immediately." Vergil smirked back.

"You really are a Slytherin." Draco commented and followed Vergil's example by jinxing a pixie near them.

A minute later the ten Slytherin students worked as one to deal with the remaining pixies.

"There you have it professor, now 50 points please." Vergil smirked.

"Yes, of course. Take well-earned 50 points for Slytherin." Lockhart happily awarded them with the points.

* * *

Following Defense the Slytherins had their taste of Herbology in their new year with Ravenclaws. When they entered the greenhouse they saw about twenty pairs of ear muffs.

"We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?" Nope, no one. "I see, unfortunate. Well, Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative that is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state. The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

When she received no response yet again she granted them with an answer once more. "The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it. Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young."

She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke. A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green in color, were growing in rows.

"Everyone take a pair of earmuffs." Professor Sprout instructed them. "When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completelycovered." Professor Sprout made sure she put emphasis on 'completely'. "When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right, earmuffs on."

The earmuffs completely shut out the sounds around Vergil and the boy figured he'd like one of these for his classes with Lockhart. And perhaps even for some other times as well.

Professor Sprout put the earmuffs on as well, rolled up the sleeves of her robes and grasped one of the plants firmly. Much to the half devil's surprise she pulled hard and instead of roots he saw a small, muddy kind of ugly baby. It had pale green, mottled skin and was crying.

Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying it in dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. She dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs-up, and removed her own earmuffs.

The students followed her example and took the earmuffs off.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet. However, they willknock you out for several hours, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up. Now, four to a tray, there is a large supply of pots here, compost in the sacks over there, and be careful of the Venemous Tentacula, its teething." With the instructions being said Vergil was joined by Draco, Crabbe and Goyle and they began working.

In the end the task was harder than professor Sprout made it out to be. The Mandrakes weren't exactly clear on what they wanted, as they fought against being pulled out and pushed back into the ground.

"Make up your mind damn it." Vergil hissed at it as he pushed the squirming creature into the pot. It still kicked and flailed, it even gnashed its teeth making the task more difficult.

* * *

The fact that Slytherin house had almost 100 points on the first day left the students and Heads of other houses confused. Even with Granger receiving a whopping 20 points in Herbology alone Gryffindor was still behind the Slytherin house.

"Ah, it was the second year class. They took my lesson to heart and made an excellent progress. Of course if anyone else was teaching them they surely wouldn't be able to deal with Cornish pixies the way they did." Lockhart bragged.

* * *

While other houses were baffled the Slytherins were celebrating.

"Leonidas! Come here!" Farley, the Prefect that led him and his classmates to the Dungeons last year called him.

Vergil got up and went to her.

"We heard what you did. Amazing." She smirked at him, looking proud that her house was doing great in her final year at Hogwarts.

"Others are responsible as well, I initiated it, we all completed it." He grinned. Nonetheless he, Draco and Zabini, the trio most responsible for bringing down the pixies were suddenly lifted into the air by older students.

"Whoa…!" Vergil yelped as his housemates cheered. Draco was clearly enjoying himself, Zabini certainly wasn't complaining and the white haired boy had to laugh. The cold air that was normally in the house felt warm during the relentless celebration. The lake above them added to the effect of calming water clashing with the students excited to the point of making their Head of the House come in to see what was going on.

Snape stood there, slightly taken aback by the sight in front of him. His presence didn't go unnoticed as Vergil grinned and waved at him.

The commotion stopped right away and the students calmed down, though they still looked happy. Vergil sat down with his legs crossed on the green carpeted floor.

Snape approached him and his pitch black eyes clashed with Vergil's red eye. The Potions master had never seen the boy grinning so brightly.

"I expect you all to continue the year, as you have started." The statement surprised the students further, Snape had never praised them like this, in fact this was about as direct of praise as they collectively got, ever.

"Yes Sir!" the entire house exclaimed.

* * *

A few days later Vergil was in the common room reading a book on potions when Draco marched in looking more furious than ever before.

"Jealous?! How dare he?! What would I even be jealous of? A foul scar right across my head?!" He ranted furiously.

With a string of insults that concerned the Gryffindor trio Vergil had to sigh. Someone just had to push the wrong buttons and make Draco's annoyance with the trio even more personal on his side.

* * *

Two months passed and Halloween came by, which meant the feast. Unfortunately Hogwarts seemed to have a tradition of peace being disrupted on Halloween. This time though it was after the feast, while students were going back from it.

The chatter, the bustle, the noise died suddenly as the people in front spotted the hanging cat, Mrs. Norris, in the corridor. Furthermore Granger, Potter and Weasley were there, all alone.

Vergil looked at the cat from the side and then noticed writing on the wall illuminated by the torches.

' _THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED._

 _ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE'_

The words were written by something red, perhaps paint.

Vergil turned his attention to the Gryffindor trio in the middle of this mess. This probably meant trouble for them.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!" Draco's claim broke the silence as he pushed to the front of the crowd. He was grinning at the sight of the immobile cat.

His shout was probably what attracted Filch, the caretaker. "What's going on here? What's going on?" And then he saw her, his cat. He fell back, clutching his face in horror. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" He shrieked.

Vergil watched as the caretaker accused Potter of murdering the cat, promising to kill Potter because of it and finally being stopped by Dumbledore.

The matter was resolved by Dumbledore taking things into his own hands, he went to the closest office, which was Lockhart's along with Filch, Potter, Granger and Weasley, Lockhart, along with McGonagall and Snape followed.

Vergil looked at Draco who was getting more excited by seconds.

* * *

 _ **And that's it.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Anime PJ – Thanks. I have a few ideas on what to do with the second year when it comes to friendships, as you saw in this chapter I'm slowly developing them. Hermione getting petrified will certainly get a reaction out of him, that much I can tell you.**_

 _ **i lovedifferentmixesup – Thanks.**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thank you.**_

 _ **brit – Thank you. Well I hope you've enjoyed the way I made them interact.**_

 _ **Bobby Morningstar – Thank you.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Dueling Club**_


	11. Dueling Club

_**Chapter 11 – Dueling Club**_

* * *

Following the night in which Filch's cat was petrified two more major events that were of no interest to Vergil happened. First was the quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor, despite Draco debuting as a seeker Vergil didn't feel like going to watch the match. Either way Potter caught the snitch once more and brought victory to his team; that also gave Gryffindor house 50 points, which made the two houses tied..

The second event was another petrification, this time a first year student Creevey or something like that.

The entire frenzy got the students into exchanging talismans, protective devices and what not, but the white haired boy honestly couldn't care less.

It was during one of his strolls to the Great Hall that he saw Neville.

"Hey." Vergil raised his hand to a shoulder level as he grinned at the boy.

"H-Hello." Neville was still as timid as he was when they first met.

"You sure armed yourself." Vergil said as he noticed a green onion, purple crystal and a rotting newt tail.

"Everyone known I'm almost a Squib." Neville muttered.

"You know, if it was that easy to get protected surely some of the professors would have told us." Vergil pointed out

"Well…" The boy seemed embarrassed.

"Better safe than sorry, though." Vergil kind of had a soft spot for the boy, he wasn't sure why, he just did.

"Yeah. Say, Vergil?" Neville waited for Vergil to correct him.

"Hm?" The correction never came and that gave the Gryffindor a bit of will to continue.

"Are you going to the Great Hall as well?" He asked as they passed by a group of Ravenclaw students.

"Yeah. Want to tag along?" Vergil invited him.

"I'd like that." Neville mumbled and suddenly found floor to be much more interesting.

"Loosen up a bit. Just because we're in different houses it doesn't mean I'm against talking to you." Vergil assured him.

"You mean it?" the question slightly took Vergil aback.

"Of course." He still confirmed it as they approached the Great Hall; it was already half full as students ate their breakfast.

"I'll see you later than." Neville still didn't meet Vergil's eye but the Halfling still grinned.

"Yeah."

They went to their respective house tables and Vergil sat down on his usual spot next to Draco.

"Seriously Vergil, first Granger now Longbottom?" Draco immediately hissed.

"Good morning to you too. And yes, I don't see anything wrong with that." Vergil said as he poured pumpkin juice into his cup.

"She's a Mudblood and he's brainless." Draco expressed his thoughts on the two.

"You're spoiled brat and I'm still spending time with you, ain't I? Once again, I don't care about blood and Neville's not brainless." Vergil calmly argued back with Draco.

"Why are you so fixated on defending them?" Draco finally asked the question he had on his mind for a while now.

"No reason. I'm not defending them; I'm just sticking to my beliefs."

"And you're trying to change mine!" Draco snapped.

"I am a hypocrite; I stick to my belief while trying to change those of another. I believe I am right, true but above anything else I am presenting you with a possibility that there is something beyond what mom and dad told you." Vergil's eye had a strange glint to it, for a moment Draco saw something that wasn't fully human in that eye. At that time he dismissed it as imagination or light playing games with his sight.

* * *

Potions took place on Thursdays and everything seemed normal. They were brewing the swelling solution and other than a couple of students none were exactly expecting anything out of ordinary. Especially not Goyle's potion exploding.

It was only years' worth of honing his instincts that allowed Vergil to react quickly enough and duck under the potion. Being a half devil and having a slightly heightened senses when compared to humans did help, a lot.

"Silence! SILENCE!" Snape roared. "Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draft, when I find out who did this…" Well that someone better hope he would never get found out. Snape looked murderous as students came up to him with swelled noses, hands, arms, lips and other body parts.

Once everyone took the antidote Snape scooped out the black remains of the cause of explosion. "If I ever find out who threw this." Snape whispered. "I shall make sure that person is expelled." It wasn't a threat, but a promise and everyone in the room knew that.

* * *

A week passed without anything significant happening and things were starting to fall back into the usual routine with the addition of threat of being petrified looming in the air.

"Dueling Club?" Vergil repeated once Zabini told him what he read.

"Right. The first meeting is tonight. Will you go?" Zabini asked him.

"It could be interesting to see, as long as it's not the most competent professor of all times teaching us." Vergil smirked.

* * *

At eight o'clock he entered the Great Hall, which now looked quite different, a golden stage that went along one wall was lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. Most of the school seemed to be present as well and they all carried their wands.

That was the moment Vergil should have learnt how to keep his mouth shut. As the one who entered the hall with intention to teach them was none other than Lockhart.

The fact that Snape was also there eased Vergil's mind a bit, this wouldn't be a complete waste of time.

Lockhart waved an arm for silence. "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions, for full details, see my published works." He boasted to the students, how he still had students that believed him was beyond Vergil's brain capabilities.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape." Lockhart flashed them a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry, you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"Like you stand a chance." Vergil felt oddly frustrated. He did relax a bit when he saw the way Snape looked at Lockhart, a knowing smirk appeared on Cambion's face. With Snape looking like that anyone sane or at least somewhat observant would run or at least stop talking.

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and Lockhart bowed; Snape just jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position." Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

Snape bared his teeth, clearly annoyed by the man in front of him.

"One, two, three…"

The two swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at one another.

Snape was the first to make a move. " **Expelliarmus**!" A dazzling flash of scarlet light hit Lockhart and blasted him off his feet. The man flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, slid down and sprawled on the floor.

"All right!" Vergil couldn't suppress his cheer as he grinned at Snape. He wasn't the only one, his fellow Slytherins were cheering as well.

Lockhart unfortunately began getting up. The absence of his hat and the wavy hair standing on end was a bit of a satisfaction though.

He tottered back to the platform. "Well, there you have it! That was a Disarming Charm, as you see, I've lost my wand." He received it back from one of the Gryffindor females. "Ah, thank you, Miss Brown, yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy, however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…" he probably stopped because of the murderous look on Snape's face.

Although a menacing red eye that promised pain near Snape probably added a bit of sweat. How could a child have that much killing intent in his eye was beyond Lockhart.

"Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me." Lockhart requested and began teaming up students.

Snape paired up Weasley with Finningan, Potter with Malfoy and Granger with Bulstrode. He then proceeded to approach Vergil who was standing near Zabini. "Leonidas, Zabini." That was all he needed to say and the two boys grinned at one another.

"Don't go crazy." Zabini teased.

"Right back at you." Vergil's grin turned into a smirk.

"Face your partners!" Called Lockhart who was back on the platform. "And bow!"

Vergil and Zabini bowed to one another.

"Wands at the ready! When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents, only to disarm them, we don't want any accidents, one… two… three!" Lockhart instructed.

" **Expelliarmus**!" Vergil was the first one to act, only a few milliseconds earlier than Zabini.

" **Expelliarmus**!" Zabini cried out and the two spells collided.

Vergil stood, wide open.

"I told you not to go crazy. **Expelliarmus**! Not to underestimate me." Zabini reminded him, the spell ricocheted toward Vergil, assuring Zabini that he had won.

Yet the white haired boy jumped to the side just in the nick of time. "I never underestimate my opponents." Vergil assured him, skidding rapidly from side to side, catching the fellow Slytherin off guard by the quick movement. " **Expelliarmus**!" The spell hit Zabini and sent him flying back.

The boy fell down and coughed a bit as he tried to catch his breath.

"Power is useless if you don't know how to use it." Vergil walked up to him and offered his hand.

"Are you sure you weren't going crazy?" Zabini smirked at him.

"Maybe a bit." Vergil turned to look around them, most duels were also over. He shook his head slightly when he saw Bulstrode having Granger in a headlock. The bushy haired Gryffindor was clearly whimpering in pain. He didn't leap forward, but he certainly didn't stroll toward them.

"All right, cut it out Bulstrode." Vergil put a stop to the headlock before the girl could do any damage and pulled her off.

Granger coughed as she slowly got back up and Potter ran up to her.

"Are you okay?" Potter asked her.

"Y-Yes. Thank you." Granger turned to Vergil.

"Don't mention it." Vergil brushed it off and went back to the where he was beforehand.

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells." Lockhart, who was standing flustered in the midst of the hall said. Looking at Snape he saw that the man's black eyes glinted, thus he quickly looked away. "Let's have a volunteer pair; Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you-"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart." Snape interrupted him. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox. How about Malfoy and Potter?" Suggested Snape with a twisted smile on his face.

"Excellent idea!" Agreed Lockhart. He proceeded to gesture Draco and Potter into the middle of the hall as the crowd backed away to give them enough space.

Vergil observed as both professors went on to instruct their students. Or at least tried to in Lockhart's case, the imbecile even dropped his wand trying to impress students with a complicated sort of wiggling action. Snape on the other hand smirked at the scene and whispered the instructions into Draco's ear.

He could barely hear it but Vergil managed to catch a rather nice exchange.

"Just do what I did, Harry!" From Lockhart.

"What, drop my wand?" And that certainly made Vergil respect Potter a bit. It was a very nice burn and Vergil couldn't help himself as he smirked.

"Three; two; one; go!" Apparently the man wasn't listening, at all.

Draco was the first to act and he wasn't wasting any time. He raised his wand and bellowed. " **Serpensortia**!"

That certainly wasn't what Vergil expected as a long black snake fell heavily onto the floor between Draco and Potter. It looked ready to strike. There were screams throughout the crowd as they backed away nearly as one.

"Don't move, Potter." Snape sounded lazy, but he was clearly enjoying the sight in front of him. "I'll get rid of it…"

"Allow me!" An uninvited Lockhart comes to offer his always welcome aid.

"Just get the hell out of this school…" Vergil grumbled as the man brandished his wand at the snake.

With a loud bang the snake was flung ten feet into the air, instead of vanishing as it was intended. It just made things worse as the enraged snake hissed and slithered straight at Finch-Fletchley. Its fangs were exposed as it got ready to strike.

A strange noise emerged from Potter's mouth and the snake seemed to turn its attention toward the boy, calm and no longer looking like it was ready to strike. It seemed to obey Potter from where Vergil was standing.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Finch-Fletchley shouted, turned around and stormed out of the hall.

Of course, children who never experienced any significant danger to their lives wouldn't be able to recognize that the danger is no longer imminent. That was what separated the white haired boy from most of his peers who lived moderately sheltered lives

Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. His black eyes looked at Potter; it was a calculating, shrewd look that most people wouldn't like to be directed at them.

In the end as Potter was dragged away by Granger and Weasley the muttering continued. Soon enough The-Boy-Who-Lived would receive another title, that of the 'Heir of Slytherin', the ability to speak Parseltongue probably had a lot to do with that.

* * *

The rumors of Potter being the Heir of Slytherin spread like a wildfire and caused fear among most of the students. Apparently Creevey was annoying him and Filch nearly punished him, both paid in one way or another. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff who told Potter that he is a Muggle-born ended up being petrified along with Nearly Headless Nick.

Vergil generally didn't care, he had no relation to anyone petrified. Plus he had his own things to deal with. Things that required Snape's approval. With that in mind he went to the extra potions lesson he had. Once they were finished he'd speak with the Potions master about what he had on mind.

* * *

 _ **And that's it.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thank you.**_

 _ **Suzululu4moe – Wow, thanks for reviews. First of all, Jokermort part, if there is any similarity it is completely unintentional, I have no idea what that is about. Secondly the topic of Devil May Cry, the short answer is yes, he was inspired. When I started writing I was heavily inspired and influenced by the franchise, especially by Vergil. As time passed the influence was toned down to a few details, most prominent ones being name, hair color and the usage of term cambion along with a few game specific terms.  
Well Vergil doesn't have any relation to Voldemort, it's just that there are similarities that caused the entire unofficial 'Voldemort incarnate' thing. Eh, I don't really see Snape pulling a tsundere but to each their own. Lastly we agree, Dumbledore did have his moments of nepotism and that was one of them.**_

 _ **Guest – Thanks.**_

 _ **Brit – Thank you, I'm glad you do.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Kaiser**_


	12. Kaiser

_**Chapter 12 - Kaiser**_

* * *

Snape had seen many kids use knives in his classes; he himself used them quite often due to the nature of his job. But he had never seen anyone wield a knife the way Vergil did.

It wasn't the way he held it, but rather the soundless way he sliced. The way he'd stop the blade right as it cut through whatever he was supposed to cut. It looked like it would make no difference if he was cutting on a wooden board on someone's neck.

He was precise and the raven haired wizard knew it was for one reason. The life in the realm of demons. A part of Snape wanted to take a look into the boy's mind; he would have if he didn't feel like the boy would talk if asked to. He knew Vergil trusted him, he knew the boy meant no harm and never once acted violently toward the students.

It would be a smart move. To learn more about the Halfling… Why he had the perfect mastery of his movement? Why did he unconsciously control the blade the way he did?

As Vergil added sliced bursting mushrooms into the cauldron and began steering clockwise Snape stood up. It was the first time he stood up during the process and Vergil immediately sent him a brief look.

"Is something wrong sir?" Vergil asked, sounding curious, but still concentrated on the task in front of him.

"No, nothing in particular." Snape responded. He moved, looking almost as if he was gliding through the dungeon they were in.

The potion turned blue and Vergil added salamander blood to the mixture. He switched the direction of the steering.

"I was wondering about a few things. Two to be exact." Vergil began the conversation. He briefly glanced at Snape who had sat down on the chair in front of him. The Potions Master was acting strangely but Vergil didn't pay it much attention. "Lockhart might be as incompetent as they get, but Dueling Club isn't a bad idea. I don't know about entire school, but I'm certain you could form one for our House, sir."

"Is there any reason why you're, proposing such an, idea?" Snape asked after a moment of silence. He had to admit, Dueling Club may be a decent idea.

"It's a precaution. Knowing how to fight is far from useless. Perhaps once a month or something. Well that's just a suggestion that popped up in my head. I have a request." Vergil stated as his potion turned green.

Snape watched as he added crushed Wartcap powder and once again began steering clockwise. "And that would be?"

"Is there any book, legit book." He emphasized the word 'legit'. "that is solely written about devils?"

The question took the potions master by surprise. He still managed to completely hide it. "Why would you need it?"

"I'd like to know how much information you have on my father's kind." Vergil explained.

"Is there anything, specific, you'd like to know about?" Snape asked.

"Are there any mentions of 'Kaiser'?" If seeking information about the devils was surprising this was shocking. And even Snape's eyes widened for a single fraction of a second.

"It's in the Restricted Section of the library." He stood up and removed the unfinished potion before Vergil could even try to protest, he had a feeling the boy wasn't even planning on doing that. "On any, normal, occasion… I would not consider, giving you permission, however… You probably know enough as it is. Come, I shall personally escort you to the book." Snape said.

"Thanks." Vergil grinned and quickly followed after the man.

* * *

Madam Pince wouldn't say a word about student going into the Restricted Section when accompanied by a teacher so there was no problem getting to the books Vergil was interested in.

He began looking over the book titles with Snape right by his side. There weren't many books on the topic but there he saw it, one specific book that made his heart skip a beat. One title he hoped he wouldn't see, but here, surrounded by thousands of books he knew… He probably knew the moment Snape showed genuine surprise.

'Rewera Kaiser'

Right there, in front of him. Slowly as if he hoped the book would perish he dared to touch it, to pull it toward him and look at the ominous, demonic cover. The leather binder feeling under his fingertips was similar. Almost as if it was made out of demon skin. Somehow Vergil knew it was far from just a feeling.

'Devil Lion'

It puzzled Vergil to see that underneath the title.

"What can you tell me about this book?" Vergil asked.

"It's an old book. Translated from Greek scripts." Snape explained.

"Were the scripts intact?" Vergil asked, careful about the way his voice sounded.

"No, many, including Dumbledore, the Dark Lord and the powerful wizards of the past centuries believe some of the facts were lost in translation." The Potions master revealed.

"Do you mind if I read it here? On my own?" Vergil asked; it wasn't a thick book; in fact it probably didn't have more than a hundred pages. Given the subject, it was surprising that it had this much material in it.

The human didn't offer any verbal confirmation, he just walked away and Vergil went to sit down on his usual spot. He opened the book and sighed. It was written eight centuries ago, or at least translated…

'When one first looked at the demon there were frightening similarities between him and us…' Alright, so this was written before the distinction between demons and devils was clear to humans. 'He had a human appearance, with a few differences. The eyes glittered of gold…' Apparent translation error; The color of the eyes was distinctive yellow, perhaps a bit close to the shade of gold but leaning more toward pure yellow.

'The hair, strangely pure, lighter than that of a human could get. Lighter than any other demon hair I had seen.' It wasn't specified, but it was clear to Vergil that the book, though filled with some translation errors was quite dangerous to him.

'I dared to approach him, to approach the carnage he stood amidst with a blood soaked blade in his hand. My wand was in my hand, but I was alone, perhaps it would be useless. I was still pulled toward the demon; he held a sense of authority I could never imagine in demon. Almost aristocratic, royal to a certain extent.'

A few pages later Vergil's heart skipped a beat.

'I asked him of his name and the answer was short… 'Rewera Kaiser', he said that's how his kind referred to him. It wasn't the only term he offered me. 'Vrag', a word originating from Balkan, its meaning was 'devil'…' So this was the first time the distinction was made. But the writer was wrong. The origin of the word aside. Vrag was a name, name that Vergil recognized. The first Rewera Kaiser to come in contact with humans…

'He went on to speak about himself. He was a lion, a part of a family that served right under the demon ruler from the start.'

With that Vergil closed the book. There it was the translation error that brought relief back into his mind. 'A lion'. There was nothing to worry about.

* * *

Christmas break came around once again and just like in the first year Vergil remained in school. Not many students stayed at school, unsurprising given the fact that there were people, and animals, getting petrified. Either way Draco and his followers stayed at now nearly empty school as well.

The one Vergil didn't expect to see in the library on the first day of the Christmas break was Granger. She was a Muggle-born after all, if someone would get targeted it would be her, every other Muggle-born was at home, safe from whatever was attacking, so she was pretty much asking to be attacked by not only staying at school but also by currently being alone.

"You shouldn't be all on your own." Vergil casually approached her.

"Leonidas. You're also here?" She seemed genuinely surprised to see him.

"As you can see." He smirked much to her annoyance. "Do you mind?" he motioned at the seat next to her.

"No, of course not." Granger quickly assured him and the smirk shifted into a subtle grin.

"Thanks." He sat down and pulled out his potions book.

"Will you ever study anything else?" Granger sounded exasperated at the prospect of Vergil always spending time with potions book. He did homework from what she could tell, but in the free time potions were the only thing he studied.

"Nope." Vergil on the other hand sounded oblivious to the irritation in Granger's voice.

"Surely you've got something else that interests you." She demanded.

"Not everyone can be interested in every single subject in this school. I happen to like potions the most, I get a feeling I'd like Defense as well, if we ever got a competent professor." Vergil replied.

"Professor Lockhart is competent." Granger accented 'is' and Vergil immediately looked at her with an 'Are-You-Kidding-Me' look on his face.

"Were we taught by the same person? Snape is competent. McGonagall is competent. That guy is a total narcissistic opposite." Vergil pointed out.

"He might just be a bit bad when it comes to passing down his experience." Granger defended him without any sign of stopping.

"As I hear it he's amazing when it comes to talking the talk, on the other hand walking the walk, don't get me started on how awful he's at that. Wasn't it Potter that got his bones removed from his arm because of Lockhart?" Vergil reminded her.

"That might have been an accident. It could happen to anyone." The look in his eyes told her he was almost amused by her pure desire to believe Lockhart was an amazing wizard.

"We'll agree to disagree I guess." Vergil grinned and turned back to his potions.

The two sat in comfortable silence, reading through their schoolbooks and even enjoying the subtle company they had going.

Vergil suddenly frowned at his transfiguration homework, he leaned against his left palm making Granger glance at him.

"How come your hair is that white?" She suddenly blurted out.

"Huh?" He honestly wasn't so sure how else he could respond to that.

"I mean it can't be natural." She reached out and pulled a strand of his hair, confirming that it indeed was completely white.

Vergil just looked at her, sighed and went back to his homework.

* * *

Granger looked at the few strands of white hair on her palm… Only a few more things to do and everything would be ready.

"That was embarrassing…" She muttered. But it was worth it…

* * *

 _ **And that's it.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Josephguy217 – Thank you, I'm glad you think so.**_

 _ **Brit – Thanks. Well, there's still a bit more to go until we get to that point. I can't say I planned on direct reaction from Harry and Ron to Vergil's reaction, but I am willing to somewhat comply to that.**_

 _ **Saintsrow10 – Thank you for the review. Well as you said it's not for a while for most of the things you mentioned. Vergil interacting with Voldemort for example can't happen until way later, but I can assure you that it will happen. Hermione and Vergil getting together is a romance goal for the story, so it will happen. As for Goblet of Fire, I can't spoil it but I have some things in mind. Oh well, I'd say we've got more than twelve chapters until fourth book but less than eighteen, so that's something I'll hopefully be able to get to soon enough. But yeah, under assumption that Vergil is thrown into the entire thing all three of the characters you mentioned would be worried.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Mudblood**_


	13. Mudblood

_**Chapter 13 – Mudblood**_

* * *

Spending time with Leonidas in the library gave Hermione a pretty solid understanding of how he spent a few hours of his day.

A bit after launch, every day of the break, he'd go and have extra potions for about two hours. Those two hours automatically gave them time they needed to sneak into Slytherin common room under disguise of Malfoy's friends without thinking about knocking Leonidas out. A task she was sure they couldn't accomplish that easily. He was better at potions than her, so trying to trick him like that would probably not work.

So here she was, in the girls bathroom haunted by Moaning Myrtle with Harry and Ron.

"We still need a bit of the people you're changing into." Hermione said matter-of-factly. "And obviously, it'll be best if you can get something of Crabbe's and Goyle's; they're Malfoys best friends, he'll tell them anything. And we also need to make sure the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating him. I've got it all worked out," she went on smoothly and held up two plump chocolate cakes. "I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know how greedy they are, they're bound to eat them. Once they're asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide them in a broom closet."

The boys looked incredulously at each other.

"Hermione, I don't think-"

"That could go seriously wrong-"

They both tried to argue that the plan could go horribly wrong.

But Hermione had a steely glint in her eye quite similar to the one Professor McGonagall sometimes had. "The potion will be useless without Crabbe's and Goyle's hair. You do want to investigate Malfoy, don't you?" She reminded them sternly.

"Oh, all right, all right." Harry eventually agreed. "But what about you? Whose hair are you ripping out?"

Hermione pulled out a tiny bottle out of her pocket and showed them a single white hair inside of it. "Leonidas. I managed to get it…" How she did that was something she'd rather keep to herself.

"And how do we knock that bloody git out?" Ron seemed a bit annoyed. "Snape's favorite…"

"That's exactly it. He'll be with Snape." Hermione told him.

"And what will you say to Malfoy?" Harry asked her.

"That it was canceled." She seemed completely confident that this would work out just fine.

* * *

She waited for they to return and then finally there was a knock on the doors and a familiar voice calling her name.

"Did you get them?" She was breathless, anxious, worried that maybe they wouldn't have enough time.

"What's with the bandage?" Ron suddenly asked, indeed she had a bandage covering the right side of her face.

"Leonidas is hiding it for a reason, I don't want to intrude." Hermione stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "Either way, I sneaked there spare robes out of the laundry." She held up a small sack. "You'll need bigger sizes once you're Crabbe and Goyle, Leonidas isn't exactly my size either."

She proceeded to nervously reread the page on Polyjuice potion, certain that she did everything right. "It looks like the book says it should… once we've drunk it, we'll have exactly an hour before we change back into ourselves."

"Now what?" Ron asked, his voice a mere whisper.

"We separate it into three glasses and add the hairs." She did it; she separated the potion into three glasses and added Leonidas' hair into the first glass. The potion hissed loudly and a second later it turned blood red.

Ron eyed it loathingly. "Bet it tastes disgusting."

Nonetheless he and Harry added the hair to their respective glasses.

"Hang on." Harry stopped them as they reached out for their glasses. "We'd better not all drink them in here… Once we turn into Crabbe and Goyle we won't fit."

"Good thinking." Ron unlocked the door. "We'll take separate stalls."

"Ready?" Hermione heard Harry's call.

"Ready." She and Ron replied almost in synch.

"One, two, three."

And she drank the blood red potion. Immediately she felt the effects, the way her insides writhed as if she swallowed live snakes. The burning sensation spread through her body, her skin felt as if it was on fire and she felt her body slowly changing. Her body grew slightly, perhaps an inch or so. It felt as if the skin of his abdomen, from her neck down diagonally to her waist was ripping as was the right side of her face. Her hair shortened and her vision became better despite the not so well lighted stall she was in.

And then it stopped, just as it began. Hermione slowly pulled off her robes, which were now too tight. Putting on the spare robes she looked down and saw a horrendous scar, running from the right side of her neck. That was the feeling of skin ripping, going by that she touched the bandage on the right side of her face. Leonidas was hiding a scar of some sort underneath those bandages… She already knew more than she wanted to, quickly she put on the rest of the robes and stepped outside. Looking at the mirror she saw that she was the spitting image of the white haired Slytherin. But her expression was too soft, slowly she narrowed her eyes and tried to harden her eye the way he did. She guessed she pulled it off decently.

Harry, looking like Goyle walked out followed by Ron looking like Crabbe.

"This is unbelievable." Ron said as he looked at himself in the cracked mirror and then at his two friends. "Unbelievable."

"We'd better get going. We've still got to find out where the Slytherin common room is. I only hope we can find someone to follow…" Harry stated.

"You don't know how bizarre it is to see Goyle thinking." Ron commented.

"Come on, we're already wasting too much time." And so the trio began walking through the castle, hoping they'd bump into a Slytherin, with the exceptions being Leonidas or Snape.

* * *

They eventually succeeded, albeit after wasting some time. Regardless, they came across Malfoy and for the first time felt happy to see him. Following his lead they reached the Slytherin common room.

"Wait here." Malfoy instructed them and motioned to a couple of empty chairs set back from the fire. "I'll go and get it my father's just sent it to me."

The trio sat down and waited for him to come back, which he did, barely a minute later. He was holding something that looked like a newspaper clipping. He thrust it under Ron's nose and smirked. "That'll give you a laugh."

Hermione watched as Ron's eyes widened in shock. The boy laughed in a very forced way and handed it to Harry.

"Well?" Malfoy was getting impatient as Harry handed the clipping back to him. "Don't you think it's funny?"

Harry laughed bleakly to satisfy him.

"How about you Vergil? Want to take a look?" It surprised Hermione that it was a question. Crabbe and Goyle were more like lackeys, but it seemed like Leonidas was on a bit more even scaling with Malfoy.

"I'll pass." She said; pulling the best even voice she could.

"Well, suit yourself." Hermione nearly let out a sigh of relief, Malfoy didn't suspect anything.

"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them. You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave." Hermione now realized what had Ron so worked up as Malfoy looked like he couldn't resent Weasleys more than he did.

"What's up with you, Crabbe?" Snapped Malfoy upon seeing the fury on Ron's, or rather Crabbe's face.

"Stomachache." Ron grunted.

"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me." Malfoy snickered. "You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet." He went on looking like he was in deep thoughts. "I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never have let slime like that Creevey in."

Malfoy began doing a cruel, but unfortunately accurate mocking of Colin Creevey, mimicking his admiration for Harry. He dropped his hands and looked at Harry and Ron.

"What's the matter with you two? Vergil I can get, but you two?"

Harry and Ron forced themselves to laugh and Malfoy seemed satisfied; perhaps Crabbe and Goyle were always slow on the uptake.

"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend." Malfoy continued slowly. "He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped up Granger Mudblood. And people think he's Slytherin's heir!"

And there it was, the moment of truth, he'd spill everything now. "I wish I knew who it is." He sounded so disappointed "I could help them."

"Doesn't your father know something about it?" Hermione was the first to recover from the surprise as Ron's jaw dropped and Harry seemed quite surprised but ready to try and get something out of this.

"Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing, last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them is killed this time… I hope it's Granger." Malfoy was relishing at the thought.

"That Mudblood, eh?" Hermione swallowed hard as she insulted herself and forced a smirk onto her face. She ignored the pure looks of shock on Harry and Ron's faces. The way Malfoy's face lit up fed her confidence. "Sure, but what happened to the one who opened the Chamber last time?"

"Oh, yeah… whoever it was was expelled. They're probably still in Azkaban." Malfoy replied.

"Azkaban?" Harry, who was puzzled, asked.

"Azkaban, the wizard prison, Goyle." said Malfoy, looking at him in disbelief "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward." He shifted restlessly in his chair. "Father says to keep my head down and let the Heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our manor last week?"

Harry and Ron decided to let Hermione do the talking, judging by the way things were going questions from Leonidas were least suspicious.

"Did they find anything?" She took the hint and asked the question.

"Yeah…" Malfoy sighed. "Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor."

He was interrupted by Ron who sounded quite pleased. But Hermione's eyes widened, the boys began changing back to normal.

"Stomachache. I'll take them so they don't stray from the path." She stood up and motioned Harry and Ron to follow.

"Good idea." Malfoy pointed out as the trio left as quickly as they could.

* * *

The escape went as planned, they turned back to normal but as she sat in her room Hermione found it very strange. The process of her shifting back was kinda slow, not in any major way but her eyes still had a tint of red in them and some of the strands of her hair was still white.

It wasn't supposed to go that way, but she couldn't find a possible explanation… And then it hit her like a ton of bricks. A massive scar, the fact that Polyjuice potion was meant only to be used for transforming into humans… Leonidas wasn't a human… But that, no, maybe she messed the potion up a bit, maybe Harry and Ron also had some changes that were slowly disappearing.

After all if he wasn't a human… It was too frightening to think of what he was. And so she let the thought linger for a bit before locking it in the deepest corners of her mind. She still didn't know enough about the magical creatures and she couldn't make an assumption, but she was certain that she'd go through some research.

* * *

Vergil returned to his dormitory after a bit of a long day at potions, he lied down and let out a sigh of relief as the soft material underneath him slowly lulled him into sleep.

"Are you feeling fine?" Draco asked, sounding somewhat worried.

"Yeah, just a bit tired, that's all." Vergil assured him sleepily.

"Either way it's good to know you're sorting out your opinion on Granger." Draco suddenly said.

Vergil looked puzzled at that as he glanced at his elitist friend.

"I mean you did call her a Mudblood." Draco said, Vergil remained silent, almost as if he didn't quite process the words.

And then a few moments later the sleepiness was instantly gone and he sat up

"Yeah, I called her a… Wait what?!" The look on Vergil's face was priceless as he realized what Draco just said.

"A Mudblood." Draco snickered. "You must really be tired if you don't remember it."

Vergil let it all sink in as he tried to piece things together. Suddenly a thought came to his mind, Granger wasn't being silly when she ran her fingers through his hair, and she tugged a bit back then. His hair. She needed his hair… For Polyjuice potion! But that would… she couldn't know that he wasn't a human…

"Yeah, I really was." He lied through greeted teeth and stood up. "I think I'll go and see Snape." He needed to know more about the damned potion.

* * *

He calmed down before he knocked on the doors of Snape's classroom, granger broke the rules and he didn't want to get her in trouble.

When Snape allowed him to get in he already had a decent story behind his curiosity.

"Sir, I've been wondering about something. The Polyjuice potion, what would happen if someone tried to use it to change into me?" He asked looking as innocent as possible.

Snape observed him for a moment. "Changing back would be slowed down, if you didn't have any human blood in you changes would require medical attention, similar to how it would be if it was used to change into, an animal. You do have human blood and devils aren't too different from humans, so if someone took Polyjuice potion with your, let's say, hair they would need a few hours to completely turn back to their original state. The potion would still only last an hour." Snape explained and Vergil began processing his words.

"How prominent would the changes be during those hours?" Vergil asked.

"Nothing major. Eyes, strands of hair, perhaps the voice would be a bit different, nothing you would notice unless you took a closer look." Snape replied.

"I see. Thank you sir."

"Did someone brew it? Some of the ingredients are missing." Snape asked making Vergil freeze.

"I couldn't tell." He said, he didn't want to lie to Snape, but he didn't want to say that it was most likely Granger. So he chose to tell the truth. He could not tell Snape.

Snape kept his eyes on the boy. "You may go now."

"Yes sir, goodnight." Vergil closed the doors, took a deep breath and made his way to the Slytherin common room. Tomorrow he'd go and find Granger.

* * *

 _ **And that's it. This is the first time I've presented the story from a different perspective. Normally it's Vergil's perspective, thus most characters go by their last names, this time it was Hermione's perspective. From time to time some events will be written from her perspective, perhaps Draco's and Snape's as well but that's a different topic…**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Brit – Thanks, yeah, I guess that was a bit funny. The questions you asked are mostly answered in this chapter, except for one, that one goes to the next chapter, as you can see by the way I ended this one. Anyway you did bring up a good point so thank you for that.**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thanks. I'd read your stories but, Star Wars aren't something I'm familiar with. If I ever get into the franchise I certainly will read them.**_

 _ **Anime PJ – The question is do they need to knock him out. Well it certainly isn't a good move and there will be some at the very least minor consequences to that.**_

 _ **Zerdas999 – I have to admit, it doesn't sound too unbelievable.**_

 _ **Guest – Thanks for review, she sure did.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Petrified**_


	14. Petrified

_**Chapter 14 - Petrified**_

* * *

Vergil felt angry, not to an extent he would let it show on his face but he certainly wasn't unaffected by the events. How dare she?! Of all the things she could do...! That did it for Cambion he was on his way to the library, surely she would be there. If she wasn't he'd just wait for her.

He was lucky, or perhaps unlucky. She was there so he didn't have time to calm down, or get further frustrated by waiting. In his current state of mind he couldn't deduce which would have happened.

"Granger." He made his presence known to her as he walked up to her usual spot in the library, thankful that it was secluded away from Madam Pince direct line of sight. Plus the woman was busy so they could have a bit of time alone.

Granger looked at him, a bit puzzled by the harsh tone in his voice.

The nerve of her.

"Polyjuice potion. Very funny Granger, very funny." When he noticed a slight bit of hesitation in her eyes he quickly cut her off. "Don't even think about lying to me. Or you've got another explanation for me being in two places at the same time unknowingly." He dared her to lie to him.

She abruptly stood up. "We were sure Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin; that he's behind the attacks." Granger admitted.

"I couldn't care less about your reasoning." Vergil stated coldly.

It took Granger aback and she looked into his red eye. "I get that I tricked you but there wasn't any other way to get your hair. You wouldn't fall for something like a Sleeping draught."

"I don't care about that either." And now he really had her confused and that was something.

"What is it then?" She seemed distraught by his behavior. She had never seen him like this.

"How could you…?" He sought a better word. "How dare you refer to yourself…" He paused, in a way similar to Snape. "as a 'Mudblood' while looking like me?!" He probably would have yelled if they weren't in the library and if it wasn't something others shouldn't hear. Yet the barely contained anger was enough to send the message across and Granger stood frozen.

That was what he was angry about. She couldn't find right words to say, a night before she thought about the possibility of Vergil finding out and confronting her, but none of the possibilities she had on her mind came even close to touching upon the derogatory term she used.

"Vergil-" For the first time his name slipped past her lips.

"Leonidas." He firmly corrected her. "There's no excuse I'm willing to accept. Don't waste your breath." His voice was even, cold and it had an even greater effect than when he nearly shouted, the tranquil anger in his voice that she barely felt made her simply watch as he stormed out of the library.

* * *

Hermione was left in the library, feeling an odd mixture of emotions. The moment she heard Leonidas calling her her heart skipped a bit. Somehow by the tone of his voice she knew he knew about the Polyjuice potion. He was blunt about it, not that it surprised her, though she didn't know him that well his direct approach to whatever he was doing was pretty prominent in most cases.

She did trick him so she expected him to lash out about that, not about her referring to herself as Mudblood while looking like him. Of all the things… Hermione had to smile; he was strange, perhaps not even fully human if Polyjuice potion was anything to go by. He may have spent time with Malfoy, he may be a Slytherin, but he didn't seem all that bad.

Still Leonidas was angry. He made sure she knew it just before he stormed out of the library.

Hermione wasn't particularly happy about it; a part of her enjoyed their silent studying sessions. With a heavy sigh she sat back down and flipped a page of her book. Perhaps she would just have to let some time pass before she approached him again.

' _There's no excuse I'm willing to accept. Don't waste your breath.'_

The words replayed in her mind and she closed the book. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. "You can't be that mad." She muttered. Hermione knew she shouldn't be that affected, but he… He was the first person she studied with. He accepted her company without as much as a second thought before she even became friends with Harry and Ron.

* * *

Vergil walked into his dormitory, luckily it was empty and he carelessly fell to the bed spread his arms and sighed as he moved so he could rest the back of his head on the pillow.

Why was he so worked up over Granger pretty much insulting herself? It was her choice. He emptied his thoughts and closed his eyes, there was no point in lingering on those thoughts any longer.

* * *

Time passed and between horrendous amount of homework that was given to the students and lack of new attacks everything seemed to fall back to normal. Unless one counted few minor details, like Peeves singing his 'Oh, Potter, you rotter' song and a couple of students that still thoughts Potter was responsible.

It wasn't until one day that Vergil learnt of the true horrors of this world. Horrors that could easily match those of the realm he lived in a year and a half ago.

Fight with Quirrell? Nope, that wasn't scary at all. Snape's injury? That wasn't even remotely as disturbing as this. Ghoul attacking him before he even knew what it was? Don't even try to compare that to this.

The 14th of February brought a Great Hall with walls all covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Heart shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. Girls, Granger included, were overcome with giggles. Lockhart, the most obvious culprit behind this horror, wearing lurid pink robes…

Vergil could see that Snape was equally disgusted by the scenery. Good for Vergil, perhaps he still had some sanity left after half a year of being taught by Lockhart.

"That's it. I'm out." He said and marched out of the Great Hall. To hell with breakfast, he could endure a day without any food if it meant hightailing it out of this place. Heck he would be willing to starve for days before if the same decorations would be present on the days that would come.

On his way as far away from the Great Hall Vergil came across Potter.

"Fair warning, Great Hall is horrific." He said as they passed by each other. Potter looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "Lockhart…" Vergil sighed.

The boy seemed to believe him a bit more. "Thanks, I guess." On that day Potter realized that Vergil didn't give off warnings so easily, but when he did, it was a smart thing to take them seriously.

* * *

It took about four months since the last attack for mostly everyone to fully believe the danger has passed. In fact with Mandrakes slowly getting closer to fully maturing everything seemed to relax.

Furthermore a supposedly important time came around as the second year students had to pick at least two elective subjects for their next year.

Five electives… Divination and Arithmancy, they were like a hamburger, you had the bread and the meat, in this case predicting the future. Followed by deciding whether you wanted a sauce or some kind of salad with it, rituals and tools or numbers respectively. Vergil wanted nothing to do with either of the two. Muggle Studies were of no interest to him. Meaning that subject was out of the way as well.

Finally, that left the Study of Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. The first he was excited about, the second he'd gladly not take due to the way animals reacted to him. Still, he'd take that over other three so that's something. He wrote down the chosen subjects and handed the list to Snape.

* * *

Slytherin common room was one of Vergil's favorite places in the castle. The feeling of belonging he couldn't fight off sneaked its way into his heart despite the fact that he didn't agree with some of the ideologies that were promoted by the most prominent students.

But when another attack, another double attack to be precise, happened and Snape walked in with instructions Vergil just got a sort of a bad feeling in his guts.

"All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

The Slytherins weren't particularly worried; none of their own had been attacked. The one behind the attacks was the 'Heir of Slytherin', that was certainly enough for them to feel secure. One could say whatever they wanted about Slytherin, however, like every other house; perhaps even more than others because of the predicament they were in, they stuck together.

"Who was it that got petrified?" Nott suddenly asked once he, Zabini, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle sat in their usual place where Vergil was already sitting at.

"Try and guess who got petrified this time?" This was going to be bad, Draco sounded way too happy. "Mudblood Granger!"

Granger… The same Granger he met on the train… The same Granger he studied with every now and then… The same Granger he was foolishly, childishly angry at… Hermione… One moment he was in the Slytherin common room, the next one he ran up the stairs, skipping two with every step he took. He paid no mind to Draco calling after him.

He needed to see for himself; to be sure that she was petrified.

* * *

It was true, the bushy haired Gryffindor way laying there, utterly still. He couldn't stay for too long, McGonagall was there with Potter and Weasley.

Cambion took one last look at the girl and walked away, just barely noticed by Potter.

* * *

"Leonidas? What was he doing here?" Potter whispered to Weasley when Vergil left the doorstep.

"Probably came to gloat, he's a Slytherin." Weasley guessed.

Potter still looked at the spot where Vergil was at. He couldn't piece it together, there was no reason for Vergil to be here, at least that's what he believed.

* * *

He snorted; once again he chose to get out of the castle. Just like in the first year when he felt he had little to nothing to hold on to and keep going… This time it was for a different reason, he needed to vent out his frustration.

She was petrified.

Spark circled around his fist.

He felt so damn stupid for being angry at her.

The sounds of crackling filled his ear and he slammed his electricity engulfed fist into the tree by the lake he reached in his little running session.

It wasn't their relationship; it was barely more than that of acquaintances.

Wood cracked due to the power he put behind the punch, due to the sheer destructive force of lightning he wielded.

It was the way they left things, the way he left things.

"Damn idiot." He berated himself as he removed his fist from the tree.

He greeted his teeth and went into blind session of basic punches, without any target, without anything to hit, all he needed was lightning that coursed through his veins. And he discharged it with every offensive motion he made.

He grew more irritated by the seconds, he was irritated by wind that blew from his left, he was irritated by birds chirping happily, oblivious to what was happening in the castle. He was irritated by the sky that lacked even a single cloud that could offer him an empty promise of a storm… more than anything he was simply irritated by his very own self.

Half an hour later he fell to the grass and glared at the skies. He needed to see Snape. He nearly chuckled, Snape became what Grom once was, the one he always turned to…

* * *

At about half past five he knocked on Snape's office doors.

"Come in." An uninterested tone of his professor's voice came from behind the doors and Vergil entered. "Leonidas. You should start heading back to your common room." Snape told him.

"I want to help make the Mandrake restorative draught." He firmly stated, for the first time in this year Snape saw the resolve and fire in the boy's eye.

"That's a sudden change of attitude." Snape commented, but then he realized. Granger. Yet he didn't say a single word about it.

"I'm sure it is. Nonetheless I want to help." His heart drummed against his chest, anticipation of Snape's response killing his nerves rapidly.

"Shall we start preparing you now, or would you rather wait until morning?" Snape asked and a wave of relief washed over Vergil.

"Now." He smirked.

* * *

Things kept going from bad to worse. Hagrid, the gamekeeper was accused of the attacks and sent to Azkaban. Somehow Vergil didn't buy it, he had nothing against the abnormally tall man, but he didn't seem like someone who was smart enough to pull all of this off. Adding the fact that Hagrid didn't exactly seem as someone who'd harm others, especially students, made it highly unlikely that he was the culprit.

But that was the part between bad and worse. The nail to the coffin was Dumbledore leaving due to influence of Lucius Malfoy.

Fear spread throughout the castle, breathing down the necks of the students and infecting them as if it was a plague. The laughter was rare to hear and even when it happened it was forced.

One of the rare few that enjoyed the terror was Draco, which Vergil frowned upon. The Cambion would have at least tried to talk to Draco, yet he was too tired. Days started with breakfast with a book, continued with classes, getting homework somewhat done, just enough to get through and then working for hours without an actual break on learning everything that could be learnt about the potion that would reverse the petrification.

He didn't only learn about the potion, he went an extra couple of miles to learn everything he could about ingredients and then a few extra miles over that to all the little details that scarcely had anything to do with the potion itself.

So when the boy finally completed his day he was exhausted to the point of just crawling into his bed and sleeping like a log.

That night he just slumped onto the bed without even bothering to pull the blanket over his body.

"Blimey Vergil, you'll pass out somewhere." Zabini, who woke up in the middle of a night and saw the state Vergil fell asleep in, muttered. He stood up and tossed the blanket over Vergil yet the boy, the same one that was an extremely light sleeper when not under the influence of Dreamless sleep potion, didn't even budge. "Too tired to even wake up." Zabini had to smirk. "Wonder why he's so worked up about…"

* * *

And then it happened, a week after that night, nearly two weeks since Dumbledore was suspended Vergil finished his lesson with Snape.

He felt lightheaded, dizzy, exhausted, he knew it was coming…

"I'll be able to start helping you soon, right?" Vergil asked, sounding as tired as one could possibly be.

"Tomorrow, in fact." When Snape received no response he glanced at the boy, only to see him falling to the floor. A quick reaction and a spell froze Vergil's body in the air and lifted him off his feet. Snape immediately knew what happened. The brat dared to overwork himself. "Lost consciousness…" There was a sincere concern just barely noticeable in his voice.

* * *

An entire day, that's how much it took Vergil to wake up and he was met with concerned look of Madam Pomfrey right away.

"You ought to be more careful. Strangely the fatigue is completely gone." She stated.

"I'd like to leave." Vergil requested as he glanced around the room; it was filled with petrification victims. She was there.

Pomfrey seemed to realize his reasoning. "Absolutely not, at least until morning you are to stay in that bed. Here, drink this." She gave him a vial of potion and made it clear to him that he was not going to be discharged.

Vergil reluctantly gave up the fight and downed the potion. Sure that he wouldn't leave on his own Pomfrey returned to her other tasks.

* * *

About an hour passed before the woman left and Vergil turned in his bed. His mind kept reminding him of the girl that lied about fifteen feet away from him. Eventually he had enough and jumped to his feet.

There she was, petrified…

"Hang in there for a bit longer. The potion will be ready soon. Everything will go back to normal." He assured her. And now he felt silly as he stood by Granger's side. She couldn't hear him. What was the point of walking up and starting a conversation?

He knew. Regret. And perhaps a need to assure him that there would be no lasting damage to the girl.

* * *

Snape seemed mildly irritated by the boy when he walked straight into his office to continue the task at hand.

"Don't go giving me that look. It was a natural reaction." Vergil stated.

"Is that so?" Snape questioned him coldly.

"As a matter of fact it is. When a devil reaches a certain point of exhaustion body shuts down and begins process of recovering." Vergil explained.

"Do enlighten me further." It seemed like he wasn't completely buying it.

"When a devil crossed the threshold of pain tolerance or exhaustion body shuts down until the full recovery is made. It's a reflexive reaction. There wasn't any sense of danger in my mind; there was no adrenaline, thus there was nothing that would force me to stay conscious. I could have woken up at pretty much any time if there was a reason for me to do so, but there was no point in that and I let my body recover." He grinned. "I might be a cambion but the devil blood is quite dominant, most of the facts about devils are true for myself as well."

* * *

Not even exams approaching were enough to prevent Vergil from giving his absolute attention to the mandrake Restorative Potion. As McGonagall informed the students that the mandrakes were ready to be cut and thus the petrification victims would be fine tonight he and Snape worked simultaneously on preparing the said roots.

McGonagall walked into Snape's office where the brewing was taking place. "Severus, Mr. Leonidas-" She halted when she saw Vergil there.

"I assure you, Minerva, that Leonidas is perfectly fine." Snape stated, knowing that McGonagall was likely under assumption that the boy's absence should be worrying.

Yet there he was, with his back turned to the Transfiguration professor, with the bandages that usually covered the right side of his face moved to the side of his head as to set free the right eye. McGonagall watched the boy as he continued working on the potion.

"Continue." Snape instructed him.

"Yes sir." Vergil automatically replied as the potions master walked up to McGonagall.

"Severus he is just a boy." She hissed at the younger man.

"I assure you Minerva, that he is fully capable of, assisting me in the process." And judging by the way the cut roots by his side looked like Snape was right.

Precisely cut into exact same pieces. McGonagall knew that the boy was doing well, even in her subject, though he did have some troubles every now and then. But when it came to potions… He had an unrivaled desire to completely master the art of potion making and he put everything he had into it.

* * *

It was finally completed, in a dire situation given the fact that the first year Weasley girl had been taken into the Chamber, but the potion was completed and Pomfrey was able to treat to petrification victims.

Another thing happened, Potter, along with Weasley, managed to solve the entire mess with the Chamber. Heck, Potter had slain the Basilisk. So the combination of the two, and Dumbledore returning, was quite a reason to make a feast.

Vergil felt sort of out of place. He had worked with Snape on the potion and then helped the potions master with a few other minor things, meaning he was still in his robes as opposed to most of his classmates who were in pajamas.

All in all Gryffindor won the House Cup, the exams had been canceled and Lockhart would leave the Defense teacher position vacant once again. Each one brought an even louder cheering. First one mostly from Gryffindor. Second one from most of the students and the final one from all the students and even some professors.

Granger also came running back, hugging her two friends shortly after the feast started and before all the announcements were made. She looked perfectly fine.

An hour later Vergil stood up, he was too tired and so he walked out of the Great Hall, fully intending on just getting to his bed.

"Leonidas." A single word, just like he began all those months ago…

He turned around and saw Granger there, she probably noticed him leaving.

"What is it?" His voice betrayed a bit of curiosity he had in his mind.

There, in the empty corridor, away from the eyes of other students, ghosts and teacher and especially a poltergeist she gave him a quick hug. One that ended as quickly as it started and she burst into a round of laughter when he looked absolutely baffled, frozen, almost as if he was petrified.

"Wait there, I think Madam Pomfrey still has some of that potion you made." Granger joked.

"That would be splendid." Vergil smirked but then his smirk faded. "Listen, I… overreacted. I shouldn't have been so angry over what happened during the Christmas break." He said, not quite apologizing directly but acknowledging his actions.

"Don't think about it. Thank you for making the Mandrake restorative draught." Granger said, explaining the reasoning behind the hug. "I heard Madam Pomfrey talking about it." The explanation made sense.

"Snape did most of the work. I was merely assistance." Vergil stated.

"You still helped." Granger pointed out.

"Whatever you say." He looked to the side, searching for the right words and then finally found them. "It's good to have you back."

The words surprised her; that was for sure. And with a grin on his face and a bit of a mock salute he went back to the dungeons.

* * *

 _ **Chamber of Secrets – Completed**_

* * *

 _ **And that's it. Two books down.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thanks for the review.**_

 _ **DarkShadow124 – Thank you. Yeah… the chapters aren't that long, but I'm having more or less frequent updates. I probably should try to make the chapters longer…**_

 _ **Guest – Yeah, he's angry. I have some plans about Hermione finding out, but I still haven't decided exactly when to get to that.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Book – Prisoner of Azkaban**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Dementor**_


	15. Dementor

_**Book 3 – Prisoner of Azkaban**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 15 - Dementor**_

* * *

The summer vacation before the third year was the first time Vergil found himself outside Hogwarts, Cokeworth or Diagon Alley. He was in the Malfoy Manor, with Draco. Lucius and Narcissa were presently absent, but were to return in about an hour.

"You really should have visited earlier, it's getting boring." Draco said.

"It can't be that bad. Find something to do."

"It's not really a competition to play Quidditch alone." Draco pointed out s they began climbing up the stairs.

"I suppose not." Vergil agreed.

"You really need to try playing with me. Stay for a couple of days and we'll play and do all sorts of things." Draco offered he stopped to look at Vergil waiting for any kind of response, for the red eye to soften up, if just a bit.

Eventually he got a response. "Let's wait to see what your parents and Snape have to say about that, but personally, I don't mind." He grinned and Draco grinned back. "So did you have anything specific in mind for today?" Vergil asked.

"Father said I should show you the library." The boy informed him.

"You've got a library?" Vergil sounded genuinely surprised.

"Who do you think we are? Weasleys? Of course we have a library." Draco told him with a smirk on his face.

"Lead the way then." Vergil said and followed Draco through the halls of the mansion. The place wasn't exactly homely, it was a bit too aristocratic for Vergil's taste, but he could see why Draco was so spoiled and focused on going on and on about his family. The house really spoke of the prestige Malfoy family had. When they entered the library Vergil was quite impressed. There were all sorts of books and he just had to ask. "Is there anything related to creatures? Demons and that sort?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at that. "I think so. Father has a lot of books on Dark Arts, so I guess there are books about demons as well."

They began slowly walking through the rows, going through the titles of the books on the shelves. Finally the titles Vergil saw in the Restricted Section in the Hogwarts library began showing up.

"Here they are. 'Rewera Kaiser'… 'Book of demons' 'Demon forgery'…" He muttered and picked up the 'Book of demons'.

Draco reached out and took another book. "I didn't think you'd be interested in demons. Is there any reason why?" Draco had no reservation when asking about personal topics.

"You should at least try not to make that kind of topic seem like a chat." Vergil pointed out. "There is a reason. A devil saved my life." He replied nonetheless.

"Saved you?" Draco repeated, disbelief clearly showing in his voice.

"Devils aren't everything that's said in these books." He said as he flipped the pages, the images of various demons were present on each of the pages. "In fact the book you're holding." He smirked as he looked at the 'Rewera Kaiser' copy in Draco's hand. "Has so many mistranslations I'm simply amazed."

"You seem to know awfully lot about demons." Draco pointed out.

"I guess I do. I've had this fascination with them ever since Grom saved me." Vergil explained, it wasn't true, he didn't have a fascination, he merely was a part devil and he wanted to know how far he could go without people realizing that he is that. Thus he tried to get his hands on as many books about demons and devils as possible.

Looking back going by his last name was a risky move, one that he could not take back. Luckily it was lost in translation.

"Grom is that demon that saved you?" Draco guessed.

"Devil. There is a difference. And yes, he is." The white haired boy replied.

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they flipped through various books in the library.

Finally, the doors opened and Lucius and Narcissa walked in.

Vergil and Draco immediately stood up from the sofa they occupied.

"Welcome back, Father, Mother." Draco greeted them. Narcissa smiled warmly at her son while Lucius nodded in acknowledgement.

"Ah, I see Mr. Leonidas has arrived. It is a pleasure to see you again." Lucius said.

"Likewise, sir, thank you for inviting me." Vergil lowered his head slightly, his body language spoke of accepting Lucius as superior, yet his eye was different, he looked Lucius right into the eyes. Letting the man see that despite the expression of respect he would not let anyone or anything control him.

He proceeded to bow down to Narcissa. It was more sincere, less challenging and more open. It was a bad habit of his, the fact that he let his guard down more easily to females. It had a lot to do with his relationship with his mother with the feeling of safety nothing could compare with.

Judging by the way the woman smiled it left a good impression on her. "Accept our apology, Vergil, we were obliged to attend a certain meeting." Narcissa offered an apology and successfully bypassed the last name basis, at least when it came to her.

"There is no need to apologize Mrs. Malfoy." Vergil assured her.

"As I see you are fairly interested in the demons." Lucius pointed out as he glanced at the book Vergil was reading prior to their arrival.

"Yes, I was just talking to Draco about that. You have a very impressive collection of books concerning the topic. May I assume there is a mutual interest?" Vergil asked, it wasn't hard for him to act the way he did. Grom did teach him about formal behavior, something that he previously had experience with back when his biological family was still complete.

Lucius smirked. "I admit I do. I find that the books aren't exactly accurate though."

"Unfortunately the obstacles in the way to the accurate information are perhaps too big." Vergil responded.

* * *

And so the white haired boy spent a total of ten days in the manor. Most of the time it was only him and Draco, but on a few occasions they would be accompanied by either of Draco's parents.

It was during these days that Vergil learnt most of the Quidditch rules and mounted the broom once again after more than a year and a half.

He wasn't that bad, not that it stopped him from lacking interest in the popular sport. On the brighter side he got to spend some more time in the library, just talked and spent time with Draco without doing much and even playing a few games of wizarding chess; all of which he lost.

* * *

About a month away from the next school year Vergil finished brewing a new dose of Dreamless sleep potion as Snape read newspapers.

"Anything interesting that happened lately?" Vergil asked as he poured the potion into vials.

"Someone escaped from Azkaban." Snape stated, he sounded like that was nothing too special, but his voice seemed to lack the vocal capabilities to express when, if ever, he was impressed.

"That Sirius Black person?" Vergil asked as he glanced at the front page.

"Obviously." Was that sarcasm in Snape's voice or was Vergil just hearing things.

The boy brushed it off. "Azkaban? That prison they sent Hagrid to last year?" Vergil remembered.

"Yes." Snape replied.

"Guess it's not as secured as I've heard last year." Cambion commented. "Besides the obvious appearance…" He was referring to Black's waxy white skin and sunken face. "He seems to be around your age. Do you know him?"

When Snape sent him a glare Vergil raised an eyebrow. That was enough of a response to the white haired boy. Snape probably knows Black and more than anything he made clear that he did not want to talk about it.

"So… Any idea on who the next Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is going to be?"

Another glare made Vergil sweat drop.

" _Struck a nerve, eh? Twice in a row… Awesome._ " Vergil mentally sighed. "I'm going to bed. Sweet dreams." He grinned sheepishly and bolted to the bedroom he slept in.

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose, he was getting too fond of the white haired Halfling…

* * *

Hogwarts express and the journey to Hogwarts were so far quite pleasant to Vergil. This time he was in compartment with the rest of the Slytherin boys in his dormitory.

"Does anyone want to bet on how bad the Defense teacher is going to be this year?" Nott suggested.

"Don't bother. I've already seen him." Draco said, pretty much seeking additional questions.

"What's he like?" Zabini asked.

"His robes are all patched up. Bet he's going to be ridiculous." Draco assumed right away.

"If the state of clothes is a sign of a good teacher then Lockhart would have been amazing." Vergil pointed out.

"If he was any good he'd be able to at least afford something decent." Draco argued.

"Fair point." A smirk crept up on Vergil's face. "I'll take that bet. And I'm betting he'll be at least competent."

"How about we wage ten Galleons?" Draco offered confidently.

"Sure." Yet his fellow Slytherin wasn't losing the smirk on his face.

They shook each other's hand and the bet was made just as the train began slowing down.

"Are we there already?" Zabini was taken aback by how quickly they arrived.

"We shouldn't be." Nott pointed out and stood up to look into the corridor. He wasn't surprised to see other students popping their heads outside their compartments as well.

"I can't see much…" Draco said, the darkness of the compartment unnerved him.

"Calm down." Vergil tried to sound calm but he saw something outside, boarding the train… "Doubt there's anyone foolish enough to try and attack. Either way **Lumos**." The tip of his wand illuminated the compartment.

"Nice thinking." Zabini said as the white haired boy stood up and began making his way to the doors.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked.

"To check what's going on."

Just as he reached out for the doors they slid open. And there it was, a cloaked figure towering all the way to the ceiling, the face hidden underneath the hood and a hand protruding from the cloak, glistening, scabbed, grayish. The hand was withdrawn under the cloak. A sound of long, rattling breath slowly being taken in was heard by the boys and the temperature dropped

Everything stopped for a moment, the time itself seemed to freeze at the cold around him. His instinct tried to force his body into acting but he couldn't move. He felt everything just being drained from him, anything positive he had in his memories, just being pushed all the way back into the corners of his mind.

The sounds that shouldn't in any circumstance be around him clearly boomed in his ears. The rumble of thunder, explosions, the sounds of battle, the earth itself splitting, wood burning and buildings crashing down…

Why?

He opened his eye, he saw it, that devil standing there. Vergil tried to reach out, to stop him. But his vision was blurry, he couldn't move, he felt as if he was pulled away. He was being pulled away…

And then it all stopped, just like it started.

* * *

"-gil! Vergil!" Draco was shouting, great, as if Vergil wasn't already feeling tired

Slowly but surely the white haired boy forced his eye to open. "What the hell happened?" He groaned and then saw the looks of concern on the faces of five boys around him. Next thing he registered was an adult standing above him as well. Finally his senses came back to him, he was on the floor and the train was moving again. He tried to push himself back up but the weakness was still present and he could barely sit up.

"Say something. Are you okay?" Draco kept asking as he reached out and helped Vergil get back into his seat.

"Something…" Vergil muttered and gave the boy a weak smirk. "I'll be fine. I'm just tired for some reason. Thanks." He looked at the unknown man he guessed was the new professor, how many adults were on this train anyway. "Can you tell me what happened?" The question was directed at the man and Vergil finally took in the man's appearance.

He seemed tired, perhaps even a bit sick, his brown hair was already greying and he had scars on his face.

Professor broke a slab of chocolate into pieces and handed Vergil a rather big one. "Here, eat it. It'll help."

Vergil looked at the chocolate, unable to comprehend how it would help. "If you say so…" Well it couldn't hurt, right? He took a bite as Professor gave the other boys chocolate as well. To his surprise the chocolate really did help, he felt warmth coursing through his body.

"What was that?" Vergil persisted.

"A dementor. Guard of Azkaban. I need to check if anyone else was attacked, excuse me." Professor left the compartment.

"If the rest of the school year is as pleasant as this… Hip hip hooray." He said dryly pumping his fist up in the air with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"You really scared us there. We all felt cold and unhappy because of that thing, but you fell unconscious." Zabini said.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it." He grinned at the worried boys around him. Judging by their states none of them were affected to the extent that he was.

"Draco tried to pull you away but… there isn't really much place in here." Nott grinned sheepishly.

Vergil turned and smirked at Draco who refused to meet his eyes. "Are you going soft?" He teased and lightly jabbed Draco's shoulder. "That could have been dangerous you know." The tone of his voice shifted into a more serious one.

"Well what else was I supposed to do?! Professor came here and made it go away but I couldn't know he'd show up." Draco hissed.

"I know. Thank you, I appreciate it." Vergil grinned, feeling fine, happy even.

* * *

When they finally reached the school Vergil saw about a hundred stagecoaches pulled by those horse-like skeletal creatures he saw back in the first year. Along with the rest of the boys he climbed up into one and waited for the arrival to the school. A cold air around him made him look outside, those things were here as well…

There were rumors about Potter losing consciousness as well, Vergil grunted knowing that Draco would eventually go and tease Potter about it. But perhaps it wouldn't happen tonight due to Vergil also losing consciousness.

Finally they reached the Great Hall, but the night was far from over for Vergil.

"Leonidas, to my office." Snape called the moment he saw Vergil, which wasn't very hard, the white hair made his stick out like a sore thumb.

Vergil followed Snape into the dungeons and then the professor's office. "Professor Lupin-" There definitely was some animosity. "-sent an owl ahead to say you, along with Potter, were taken ill on the train."

"Spectacular." Vergil groaned, annoyed that him losing consciousness was still the topic.

Barely a minute later Madam Pomfrey came into the office adding oil to the flames of annoyance burning inside of Vergil.

"Another dementor?" Pomfrey closely observed him.

"So I've been told." Vergil replied.

Pomfrey went to feel his forehead, proceeded to check his pulse. "Terrible things, they are, the effect they have on people who are already delicate."

Oh, the cambion took great deal of offense in that phrasing.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" He asked, his voice ice cold.

"He should have some chocolate. I hear Professor Lupin had already given them though." Pomfrey pretty much ignored his question.

"Are you absolutely certain you feel all right, Leonidas?" Snape asked when the woman left his office.

"I am." Vergil assured him. "Can I go now?"

Snape observed him for a few moments before finally replying. "Yes."

* * *

Vergil went to the Great Hall and sat down next to Draco.

"Did something happen?" Draco asked him.

"Nothing important." Vergil assured him as Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore greeted both the new students and the ones who already spent some time in the castle, the candlelight shimmered on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast-" He cleared his throat. "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

He certainly didn't look happy about this.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds." Dumbledore continued. "While they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises, or even Invisibility Cloaks."

The hell? Did any student in this school even possess one of those?

"It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors." The headmaster looked very seriously around the hall, his eyes met with lack of both motion and sounds.

"On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

The applause that followed that statement wasn't particularly enthusiastic, which was reasonable after at least two years, as far as Vergil knew, of utterly incompetent teachers filling that position. Vergil's applause was honest; the man so far seemed competent. But as he looked at Snape it was clear that his suspicions of Snape harboring some animosity toward Lupin were correct. The Potions master looked like he loather Lupin.

"As to our second new appointment." Dumbledore continued once the applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

That was a bit of a surprise.

Draco seethed at the news. "That oaf? Teaching us? Wait until my father hears about this."

"Well, I think that's everything of importance. Let the feast begin!" And so the food and drinks filled the plates and goblets. The feast was pleasant, filled with laughter, talk, the dementors were for the moment forgotten.

* * *

 _ **And that's it.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Brit – Thanks. I'm glad you did, there will be quite a few of the interactions between them in this book as well.**_

 _ **Oliviaa Rose – Thank you for the review. I'm glad you liked it. I can assure you that there will be some moments between the two in this book. Either way I'm glad you like the story.**_

 _ **RedHood001 – I suppose the way an Obscurus attacks is about as close as it can get in appearance when it comes to Harry Potter universe. Just more in control, though that also depends on the physical and mental state of the one using the power. As for Voldemort, I certainly plan on having him lean more to interested after they interact for the first time.**_

 _ **i lovedifferentmixesup – Thank you.**_

 _ **DarkShadow124 – He will be involved with what is going on, that much I can tell you. First two books, while good and all that aren't really great for inserting an OC from another house as they require said OC to be with the trio, or Harry and Ron as it was in the second book, prior to getting into the center of the climax. Other books don't put as much of a limit to OC involvement so Vergil will be a part of the main action.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thank you.**_

 _ **Anime PJ – Thank you. I agree about the PoA being the start of excitement. I'm looking forward to writing it quite a lot, it's one of my favorites, definitely in my top three. You're right about balancing between the contribution OC makes, it does get difficult from time to time, but that's what makes it fun as well. As you saw, I at the very least tried to take advantage of the said scene, as for Boggart, the chapter after the next one will cover that scene.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Buckbeak**_


	16. Buckbeak

_**Chapter 16 – Buckbeak**_

* * *

Being a Slytherin was something Vergil didn't find hard to accept. He was quite fond of his house, still there were things about his house, or rather his circle of housemates, that he didn't particularly like.

"And I was like." He dramatically raised his left arm and put the back of his right hand against his forehead before leaning backwards. "And then I fell back so hard Muggles registered an earthquake." Vergil joked around causing a roar of laughter around him.

"He's lying! He was actually swooning as well." Draco did a rather ridiculous impression of a swooning fit causing another roar of laughter.

"Looks like Potter's a bit sensitive." Blaise whispered giving Parkinson an idea.

"Hey, Potter!" Parkinson shrieked. "Potter! The dementors are coming, Potter! Wooooo!"

"Cut it out." Vergil commented, but made no further effort to stop his fellow housemate. This was one of the few things he didn't really like about the way they acted. But he honestly couldn't blame them, Potter walked in, seemed like he assumed they were mocking him and this was the result.

They fainted, so what, life continues. No one was harmed, there's no reason to dwell on the thought, and hell might as well make a joke about it.

* * *

When it came to subjects one of the first classes Slytherins had was Care of Magical Creatures and it was with Gryffindors. Vergil sighed, this class could be troublesome. He wasn't sure how the creatures would react to him.

Vergil's lack of enthusiasm was complete opposite of Hagrid's enthusiasm. The large man looked extremely eager to get started as the two groups approached his hut.

"C'mon, now, get a move on! Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!" Yeah, too eager.

Hagrid led them by the edge of the trees for five minutes before they ended up outside of a paddock. They didn't see anything specific.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" He called and the students complied. "That's it, make sure yeh can see, now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-"

"How?" Draco asked coldly.

"Eh?" Hagrid was confused by his question.

"How do we open our books?" Draco repeated. He proceeded to take out his copy of 'The Monster Book of Monsters', which was bound shut with a length of rope.

Other students shared Draco's lack of knowledge on how to open the books as they took out books showing that some were bound by belts, or crammed inside tight bags. Vergil himself found a decent solution in shocking the book, literally.

"Hasn'… hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid looked crestfallen at the revelation.

The response was unanimous no in the form of shaking their heads.

"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em." To Hagrid it seemed like the most obvious thing in the world. "Look." He took Granger's book, ripped the spellotape that bound it and the book immediately tried to bite. Hagrid ran a forefinger down its spine causing it to shiver and open, now calm and quiet in his hand.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Draco sneered. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess?!"

"I, I thought they were funny." Hagrid sounded uncertain as he spoke to Granger.

"Oh, tremendously funny! Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!" Draco continued making Hagrid feel less confident about this.

Vergil sighed, this wasn't going good, the man told them to get books that were moderately dangerous because he thought it was funny. He was bound to show them more aggressive creatures as well…

"Shut up, Malfoy." Potter hissed, trying to defend their new teacher.

"If you've got any argument that defends the assignment of this book, or if you find it funny, Potter, I'd like to hear it." Vergil challenged. "Considering it's still bound by that belt… I think you don't." He motioned at the book.

Potter was about to reply when Hagrid spoke up again.

"Righ' then, so, so yeh've got yer books an'… an'… Now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on..." He strode away into the forest.

"I want Hagrid to have a good first lesson." Potter narrowed his eyes on Vergil.

"I don't see how he should be immune to complaints from students. You never complained about any teacher, did you?" Vergil calmly inquired.

"That's not the same?" Potter made an absurd argument.

"As I can see it no one found the book funny. Draco, though a bit too open about it, spoke for most of us here." Vergil pointed out.

"Both of you stop it. There's no point in this." Granger stood in between them, fearing that the situation could get out of hands.

"I get it, I'll step back." Vergil decided to comply, surprising his fellow Slytherins and even most of the Gryffindors.

The surprise was easily overshadowed by the shocking display of majestic creatures Hagrid brought along.

The creatures trotting toward them were a dozen of creatures with the bodies, hind legs and tails of a horse and the heads, front legs and wings if a giant eagle. Their beaks were the color of steel and their eyes were a brilliant shade of orange.

But they looked dangerous, if talons half a foot long were anything to judge by.

Regardless the beasts had thick leather collars around their necks, each of the collars was attached to long chains, all of which were held by Hagrid. The man led them to the fence and most of the class drew back slightly.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, he clearly got over Draco's comments, or at least looked like he did. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"

Majestic may have been a proper word in Vergil's opinion, the beast looked proud, powerful… Truly a magnificent creature.

They each had a different color, from stormy gray, bronze, chestnut and ink black all the way to pinkish roan.

"So." Hagrid began, he was rubbing his hands together, beaming at the students. "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer."

His invitation was accepted only by cautious Granger, Potter and Weasley.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

Well, the talons were not something Vergil wanted to see being run through his flesh.

Draco however wasn't listening. He talked to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move." Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt."

" _You don't say…_ " Vergil thought.

"Right, who wants ter go first?"

Not even Potter stepped to the front right away.

"No one?" Hagrid had a pleading look on his face.

"I'll do it." Potter finally decided.

Vergil had to hand it to him; he was recklessly loyal to his friends. The Halfling observed as Potter climbed over the paddock and Hagrid pulled the gray hippogriff away and slipped off the leather collar. Most of the class held their breath as Hagrid instructed Potter.

Things got ridiculous when Hagrid told him to bow. It was a fool's bet, leaving yourself open to a potentially dangerous creature. It was one of the first things Vergil learnt, never expose your neck.

Demons, especially devils, never allow anyone to casually reach out and touch their neck. Doing so expressed surrender, acceptance that they were at that individual's mercy. It was an unwritten rule, an instinct engraved in their very nature.

Potter stopped bowing and the hippogriff still stared haughtily at him.

"Right… back away, now, Harry." Hagrid sounded fairly worried but then the hippogriff suddenly bent its front knees and sank into an unmistakable bow.

"Well done, Harry!" Worry turned into happiness as Hagrid praised the boy. "Right, yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

Potter moved slowly toward the hippogriff, cautiously he reached out and patted the beak several times. The applause roared through the class.

"Righ' then, Harry, I reckon he might' let yeh ride him!"

Vergil's eyes widened at that. There is a fine line separating how far a teacher should go and Hagrid was really crossing over it. And the beast didn't like being pulled by the feathers. Where was he even supposed to hold on to?

Either way Potter had no way of getting out of this, the beast took flight. So far he was doing fine so when he finally came back down most of the class cheered.

Vergil clapped good-naturedly. Potter deserved it.

His success encouraged the others and the entire class approached the herd.

Vergil joined Blaise and Nott with the inky black hippogriff. The two boys bowed and were granted with the chance to pat it. Vergil just stared at it, clearly showing no signs of wanting to stomp on his own instinct by bowing down to such an extent. He lowered his head slightly, but he didn't feel like going beyond that.

"I knew it must have been, if Potter could do it... I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you?" Vergil heard Draco saying and he glanced ahead to the boy. The red eye widened, the telltale signs of potentially threatening behavior were there. "Are you, you great ugly brute?"

Draco screamed, in a rather high-pitched voice and it was over in an instant. The entire class instantly looked at the scene, most of them gasped. Draco was on the ground, blood dripped onto the grass and Hagrid was pulling the hippogriff, Buckbeak, away from the scene. The hippogriff still strained to get to the boy glaring at it with a menacing red eye.

"Vergil?" Draco finally recovered from his shock.

"You damn…" He took a deep breath. "Imbecile."

He managed to get there in time, just in time to pull Draco and throw him back, but he took an extra step. All he could do was to raise his right arm.

"Y-You're dying!" Draco yelled as the class panicked. "Look at you! It's killed you!" And he had a reason to panic. Vergil had three gashes on his right forearm. And then there were the other three gashes, in his dash to get to Draco the upper part of his body was somewhat hunched forward. Buckbeak's long talons cut into his shoulder and went to his chest before finally exiting the flesh. The wound was about half an inch deep and the blood was gushing out.

"It didn't you dumbass!" Vergil yelled at him.

"Buckbeak! Calm down!" Hagrid was still trying to calm the beast down.

Vergil greeted his teeth; the pain was coursing through his body. The blood was drenching his robes. And the pale looks on everyone's faces was infuriating.

Finally Hagrid managed to calm Buckbeak down and rushed to Vergil's side. "Someone help me. Gotta get him outta here…!" He looked as white as a sheet.

"You're gonna regret this. You and your bloody chicken!" Draco openly threatened as Vergil looked at Hagrid.

"I can walk on my own." Vergil insisted as he gripped onto his shoulder, he paid extra care on making sure others didn't see it as he slowly attempted to numb the wound with small sparks of electricity.

"You can't. Vergil let him help." Granger ran up to him and looked him in the eye, her pleading brown eyes met with his tired red one.

"Yes, come on. Let me help yeh." Hagrid reached out to lift him up.

Yet the boy's pride was immense. The pain from this kind of wounds would not make him seek or accept help. He was a part devil. He was trained to fight. And before anything else he was Grom's protégé!

He jerked away, ignoring the way it worsened the pain. "I'd rather bleed out than forsake my pride." He hissed and stepped away from Hagrid. The red eye hardened, void of anything but determination. "I can go to hospital wing, correct?" It was a question that further took the surprised professor aback.

"Y-Yes, of course." Hagrid told him.

Vergil nodded and fought the pain with his pride; he wouldn't dare lose to wounds like these. He couldn't lose to a pain like this. He began walking with Draco right next to him. The boy was adamant on staying right next to Vergil. Hagrid still followed him, fearful for the student. Granger quickly ran to hold open the gate for them.

"Vergil, please." She tried one last time.

He stopped for a moment and actually grinned. "Don't worry. I'm fine." He wasn't, the pain was still there, he was immune to electricity because of being able to use it. He couldn't properly numb his wounds in this situation.

"Don't waste your time! You'll die!" Draco panicked again.

"Why am I the calmest one?" Vergil groaned.

"Because you're delirious from pain!" Draco reasoned.

"My best friend is an absolute idiot." Vergil slapped his forehead with his right palm, jolting the pain in his forearm and then realizing what he just said.

The gravity of his words was obvious with the way Draco stood there, silent. Even granger was downright surprised.

And then Draco grinned in a rather infuriating way.

"If you say a single word I swear I'm going to push, and not pull, you next time." Vergil made sure his promise was clear as he picked up the pace and walked by the still grinning Slytherin.

* * *

To say that Pomfrey was not pleased would be an understatement. The wounds were quite bad, the boy walked into the hospital wing on his own and he already lost some blood. His life wasn't in danger, but she certainly wasn't happy.

Not to say that anyone could blame her, first official day back and Vergil already had to be treated by her twice if the incident with Dementor counted.

* * *

The wounds were the reason why he had to stay in bed until tomorrow and the white haired boy was bored out of his mind.

"Just for five minutes." He heard Pomfrey's frustrated voice outside and then the doors opened for Draco and Blaise to walk in.

"Are you feeling better?" Blaise asked.

"I feel awful. I'm bored out of my mind." Vergil complained as he sat up.

"He's perfectly fine." The two commented at the same time earning a grin from the white haired boy.

"Well spotted." Vergil said.

"I'll make him pay, both him and his chicken." Draco suddenly declared.

That certainly wiped the grin off Vergil's face. "I don't want that. Forget about it."

It was too late though, Draco had already informed Lucius. Furthermore this was the first time in three years that Draco responded to Vergil's firm demand with a determination equally set in stone.

The boy made his choice and was going to stick to it.

Vergil sighed. "Do what you want." Vergil relented; there was no arguing with Draco over this. This didn't mean he wasn't going to try doing something.

* * *

Double Potions were the last classes for third year Slytherins on Thursday mornings and this was the first one. Once again they were grouped with Gryffindors. They were making a Shrinking Solution, potion Snape already walked Vergil through once thus letting the boy tune out the instruction.

Neville looked to his right where Vergil was and sure enough his nervous glance was quite notable to anyone who paid any attention. To the Gryffindor's small relief Vergil stood next to him and grinned.

Granger was next to Neville and that gave the boy slightly more confidence that maybe the lesson wouldn't be so bad.

Vergil set up the ingredients needed and began silently chopping the daisy roots. Neville glanced at the white haired boy and observed the way he cut the roots.

"Be more precise." Vergil whispered when he noticed Neville's roots. That couldn't exactly be done with the way Neville's hand was shaking.

"I can't…" Neville whispered back and looked at Granger, pleading for some sort of help.

To his surprise Vergil reached out with his left hand and held Neville's right wrist. "Easy. Just relax." He guided Neville's hand up and down while Snape was walking behind them. This made him slow down with cutting his own roots but it was worth it so far. A part of Vergil was sure Snape caught what he was doing.

With the roots cut Vergil proceeded to peel the Shrivelfigs. Granger made sure Neville got that part right from the corner of her eye.

With the ruby blood of two Shrivelfigs added to his cauldron he began to stir slowly.

"Slower." He muttered making Neville slow the stirring down.

With potion slightly heated he added the daisy roots and five hairy caterpillars. He began shaking the wormwood.

"Five Neville." He heard Granger whispering as he added the wormwood as well.

Stirring the potion vigorously wasn't much of a problem; Madam Pomfrey didn't have much trouble healing his wounds. There was still a bit of pain but it was barely noticeable.

Vergil juiced four leeches and was about to add them when he saw Neville about to juice the fifth one.

"Four." His whisper made Neville halt and look at him, a silent, fearful thank you was clear on the face of the boy that was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.

With the juice added he continued stirring slowly, cautiously while shaking rat spleen. He added it to the cauldron and let out a sigh as his left hand shot above Neville's cauldron to catch the three spleens. Neville jumped back and nearly fell down as his heart drummed inside of his chest.

Vergil shook his hand. "One, Neville, just one." Vergil dropped the spleen into the so far correctly made potion and lowered the remaining two onto the table.

"Y-Yes…" Boy mumbled.

Vergil nodded and added a splash of cowbane; he went to stir slowly before finally rising the temperature. Once it was ready he just waved his wand and completed the potion.

The lesson was coming to an end and Snape strode over to Neville who's heart skipped a beat.

Man sneered as he looked at the acid green potion in Neville's cauldron. "Well, Longbottom, shall we test the potion on your toad?" That was new and it caused Neville to gulp as he watched Snape fearfully, pleading with his eyes not to give the potion to Trevor.

But Vergil knew the potion was fine so he suppressed his grin.

"Everyone gather 'round." Snape said as his black eyes glittered. "And watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned."

While the Gryffindors were fearful Slytherins looked excited, Vergil kept his face blank but he still had to put some effort into suppressing his grin.

Snape picked up Trevor in his left hand and dipped a small spoon into Neville's potion. He trickled a few drops down Trevor's throat. The toad gulped and with a small pop Trevor turned into a tadpole and began wriggling in Snape's palm.

Gryffindors burst into applause and a grin finally broke out on Vergil's face as Snape pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robes. He poured a few drops on top of the tadpole, causing Trevor to grow back to his original size.

"Five points from Gryffindor." Snape's declaration wiped the smiles. "Next time do it on your own. Class dismissed."

Vergil thought about staying behind but eventually decided against it. When he stepped out he was met by Neville and surprisingly Granger.

"Aren't they waiting for you?" Vergil glanced over to Potter and Weasley.

"Yes. I just wanted to ask you if you're feeling alright." Granger sounded concerned, or about as concerned as she could be for him given their contact.

"I'm fine. Yeah, I had better days but it's nothing to worry about." Vergil assured her. "Thanks for asking."

And then there was a bit of silence between them.

"Hermione! Come on!" Weasley interrupted the silence that Neville was a witness to.

Granger looked back at Weasley and Potter, the former seemed rather impatient. "That's good, I'll see you later then." She said to Vergil.

"Sure." Vergil nodded.

With that she turned to leave.

"Hey! Granger." Vergil suddenly called her. She turned around, slightly surprised. "You took Ancient Runes as elective, right?"

"Yes, I did." Granger replied.

"Do you have anyone to sit with?" Vergil asked.

"No, not many took it as elective. No one from Gryffindor." She told him, still not certain of where he was going with this.

"No one from Slytherin either. Want to, I don't know, sit with me…?" For the first time since Granger met him he wasn't completely blunt. Sure he didn't beat around the bushes but he didn't sound as confident as he usually did.

And she wasn't exactly sure how to react to that. "Uh… of course." The answer was obvious to her, but the way he asked her still caught her by surprise.

And Vergil grinned. Not in the way he usually grinned. Not in his confident, half smirk half grin. It was just a happy, wide grin.

"Hermione!" Weasley nearly shouted this time.

"I've got to go. Bye." She went to join her friends.

"So… It's a nice weather today." Vergil pointed out as he and Neville were left alone.

"Huh? Oh, it is. Thank you for helping me." Neville looked anywhere but at the white haired boy.

"Don't mention it. How about I help you out with potions, outside of lessons. We could meet up at the library or somewhere and I'll see what I can do to help you. Hell, Snape will let me use the classroom so we can make some potion." Vergil suggested.

"You'd do that?" Neville asked.

"Of course, as long as you want me to." Vergil assured him, the round-faced boy certainly needed hell of a lot of assurance.

"I-I'd like that. Thank you Vergil." Neville looked at him.

"Come on, let's go to the Great Hall and get some launch." Yeah, he may have seemed intimidating at first. He certainly was with the way he just withstood the wounds he received from Buckbeak. But to Neville it looked like Vergil, once he considered someone a friend, was willing to go to great lengths for that person.

* * *

 _ **And that's it.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **josephguy217 – I'll certainly try.**_

 _ **Guest – Thanks.**_

 _ **i lovedifferentmixesup – Thank you.**_

 _ **Brit – Thank you, as you can see a bit more pain than in the first two when it comes to Vergil.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Boggart**_


	17. Boggart

_**Chapter 17 - Boggart**_

* * *

Study of Ancient Runes was something Vergil was looking forward to ever since he chose the elective so he actually reached the classroom a bit earlier.

Slowly the lone Hufflepuff approached the classroom, Bones if he wasn't mistaking it. Ravenclaws were the next, Boot, Corner and Patil, making the total count, with yet to arrive Granger, six. Six students picked Study of Ancient Runes.

And there she was, running down the hall, appearing to be a bit too hectic.

"Hey." She greeted him somewhat breathlessly.

"Morning." Her bag seemed ready to burst. "Let me." He held out his hand for her to hand him the bag.

She was a smart girl; she pieced the two and two together quickly. "There's no need, thanks for offering though."

"I insist. Humor a failed attempt at being a gentleman." He relaxed, first two years he wasn't nearly as talkative as he was over the course of this week.

"Weren't you the one who refused help, when you were injured mind you." Granger pointed out, teasing and providing a counter argument.

"Touché. You win, now let me pamper you while you still have a chance." He kept insisting, their fellow classmates weren't paying any attention to them, Ravenclaw boys stuck in their own conversation and the other two girls chatting about something. The unusual civilized and even friendly chat between Gryffindor and Slytherin went unnoticed.

Granger huffed. "I'm not some baby you need to pamper." Her eyes showed that she would not relent to him.

"I'll take my chances some other time." Vergil smirked as their professor Bathsheda Babbling approached just a minute before he class was about to start.

She led them into the classroom, which wasn't as big as most of the other classrooms, most likely because of the number of students that usually chose the subject.

"Is here alright?" Granger asked, standing next to the seats right from the professor and first in that row.

"Absolutely." She sat down, purposely leaving the spot on her right empty. Considerate of her; enough for Vergil to grin.

"Good morning, class. I am Professor Bathsheda Babbling." The woman introduced herself. "Today we shall start the basic runic alphabet. Who can tell me what runes are?"

Granger immediately raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss-" Babbling encouraged her to stand up and answer the question.

"Granger, Ma'am." Granger said. "Runes were symbols representing various sound values, belonging to a runic alphabet." She stated.

"Excellent Miss Granger, five points to Gryffindor." Babbling awarded her.

Granger beamed at that. She had her complete attention on the subject and writing down the symbols Babbling was writing on the blackboard.

"This is amazing." She whispered to Vergil who was still quite enthusiastic about the subject.

"I'll have to agree." From the corner of her eye she saw him carefully mimicking Babbling's writing of the runes.

* * *

Defense Against the Dark Arts, judging by how competent Lupin seemed on the train would make the day even better, at least that's what Vergil initially thought.

When they entered the classroom for the first time Vergil took a good look at the man. He still looked shabby, but seemed healthier, on the other hand Vergil couldn't exactly judge. Seeing as their first encounter happened right after the Dementor fiasco and was rather short.

"Good afternoon. Would you please leave all your books in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands." Lupin took a more friendly approach, polite despite the fact that they were students. He didn't force his authority. The fact that he and Snape seemed to be about the same age really made a good contrast between the Potions master and the Defense professor.

Vergil had to grin, this was the first time they would encounter a practical lesson in this particular class. And that alone was enough to make him excited about this year.

"Right then, if you'd follow me." Lupin led them out of the classroom, along the empty corridor and around a corner. Another corridor later he stopped, right outside the staffroom door. "Inside, please." He opened the doors and stood back to let the kids step in before him.

His behavior solidified the friendly, polite first impression he made.

The staffroom was a long paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, quite fitting for the school as old as Hogwarts.

"Now, then." Lupin beckoned the class toward the end of the room; strangely there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. Just as he stood next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble. "Nothing to worry about." Lupin said calmly. "There's a boggart in there."

Well… that didn't really help Vergil. He didn't really take his time to study magical creatures, something he might actually do after this lesson… Hell, he certainly is going to do it now.

"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks; I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice." Lupin explained calmly, his voice, the tone he spoke in, the way he spoke… It reminded Vergil of Grom…

Snape's teaching methods were similar to Grom's in the gist of it. Explanation followed by practical approach and repeating of the process until it was completely mastered. But Grom was more willing to take time and he wasn't as strict as Snape in the process, when it came to result, yeah, absolutely, but not in the process itself. All in all merging the teaching of Snape and Lupin was the kind of approach Grom took.

For that alone Vergil, despite having reconciled with reality of Grom's death, was having a hard time fighting back the feeling of remorse. The regret, the nostalgia, the desire to talk to the devil again, it all mixed inside of him even after over two years.

"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a boggart?" Lupin's question brought Vergil out of his thoughts.

Nott raised his hand. "It's a shape-shifter that takes shape of our fears."

"Correct. Our worst fear to be precise." Lupin nodded. "So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears." Lupin explained.

Vergil was getting the gist of what the lesson would be and he knew what his fear would be.

"This means that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it?" Lupin asked the class once again.

It was quite logical and Vergil raised his hand. "Strength in numbers. It won't know what shape to take, meaning it will be confused and vulnerable."

"Precisely." Lupin said. "Having company is always the best choice when you have to deal with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake; tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening." He explained step by step what Boggart is and what its most obvious weakness is.

"The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please... Riddikulus!" He exclaimed the incantation.

"Riddikulus!" The class chorused.

"Good. Very good." Lupin praised them. "But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where I'll need a volunteer."

The wardrobe shook again as the class stood still. They either didn't want to step forward and reveal their worst fear, or they simply didn't want to fail.

Vergil suddenly stepped forward. This was going to be bad, really damn bad. He knew what was frightening him. He knew he'd have to face it. He knew he'd have to make something ridiculous out of it.

He strengthened his resolve as Lupin looked into his red eye. Great, it caught his attention.

"Right, Vergil." Lupin approached him. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"

"I'm not exactly sure, Professor. Perhaps a devil." Vergil stated.

Lupin observed him carefully. "Can you imagine anything that would make a devil seem funny?" He asked.

"Not too funny, but a cartoonish version of that devil being chased by a ball of lightning would suffice in my opinion." White haired boy grinned.

"Right then, can you picture that? Can you see that in your mind's eye?" Lupin asked.

"As clear as day." The grin shifted into a smirk.

"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Vergil, and sees you, it will assume the form of a devil if you are correct. You will raise you wand…" He demonstrated how. "Like this and cry 'Riddikulus'. Concentrate hard on that image in your head, if everything goes well, we'll all see it." Lupin instructed him.

"Understood."

"Good. If Vergil is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn. I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you the most. Then imagine how you might force it to look comical." Lupin turned to the rest of the class.

Slytherins went quiet, thinking of how to face their fears and overcome the boggart.

"Everyone ready?" Lupin asked after a bit more than a minute passed. The students nodded in response.

"Vergil, we're going to back away, let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward… Everyone back, now, so Vergil can get a clear shot." Vergil's classmates retreated at the command.

Vergil held his wand and raised it slightly.

"On the count of three, Vergil." Lupin pointed his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe to set the creature free. "One, two, three, now!" A jet of sparks shot from the end of his wand and hit the

doorknob. The wardrobe burst open.

Vergil's eye narrowed as two figures emerged from the darkness of the wardrobe. The boggart split itself into two barely joined together forms.

Devils normally had a human-like appearance, but these didn't. These were closer to demons. And Vergil knew what it was, it was their demonic form. The true form of a devil; accessible only to rare, most powerful devils.

The one on the left… the irony of angel-like pure white wings was quite a thorn in Vergil's eye, the pure golden eyes shone brightly, emitting the light the devil controlled. The sharp looking, straight horns going up from the sides of the devil's head seemed menacing enough, even without the scaly golden gauntlets that reached all the way to the devil's shoulders. The dark gray combat uniform covered the lower part of his body and was tucked into the golden scaly greaves. His skin was white, except for the part around his chest, the part that was a light shade of gray.

This devil's name was Apolion…

The one to the right was covered in armor from head to toe. The menacing black and purple armor without a single part of the skin left vulnerable. Only thing visible behind the armor were the yellow eyes. The armor was similar to some form of skeleton, the skull like helmet, no horns like the white one, the plated armor around the chest and ribcage decorations of the armor covering the arms and legs.

Acharon…

Several students screamed, trying to back further away and even Lupin's eyes widened. When Vergil said devil he certainly didn't expect them to look like this.

" _ **It was all for nothing.**_ " The voice of the darker devil was disembodied and Vergil's eye widened. Even the voice was same…

Lupin was about to step in but Vergil raised his wand.

"Riddikulus." Vergil said, strangely calmly but with determination that made the boggart halt for a moment.

Despite the previously frightening appearance the sight of two cartoonish demons running comically from an equally cartoonish mean-faced lightning ball made Slytherins and Lupin laugh.

"Alright Vergil! Blaise! Forward!" Lupin shouted.

The running devils stopped and looked at Blaise. Their bodies morphed back into one and with a crack their appearance changed. Where there were once two devils now stood a burnt corpse, still on fire and it began walking toward Blaise.

" **Riddikulus**!" Blaise cried out.

The burning corpse was suddenly looking like it was splashed with water and it fell back.

"Tracey!" Lupin roared and the girl walked past Blaise.

With another crack the previously burning corpse turned into a chimpanzee, similar to the burning corpse it began approaching Davis.

" **Riddikulus**!" She shouted fiercely making the monkey dance.

The monkey went to turn into a snake, and then a vampire, followed by an amazingly long parchment titled homework that was supposed to be filled.

"It's confused!" Lupin exclaimed. "We're getting there! Draco!"

Draco stepped forward. Cracked erupted in the room and a hippogriff similar to Buckbeak rose it's talons to strike him.

" **Riddikulus**!" Draco yelled. The hippogriff began chasing its tail as if it was a dog.

"Excellent!" Lupin along with everyone in the room was having quite a lot of fun with what was going on in the room. In a few minutes the others succeeded as well and Lupin moved forward to force the boggart back into the wardrobe.

Boggart shifted into a silvery white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin.

" **Riddikulus**." He said it almost lazily and pushed the boggart back into the wardrobe. He turned to the class. "Excellent. Well done, everyone... Let me see... five points to Slythering for every person to tackle the boggart. Another five each to Theodore and Vergil for answering my questions correctly." Lupin awarded them. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me... to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."

With that the lesson was over, the euphoria was over and Vergil had only one thought repeating itself in his mind like a broken record.

' _It was all for nothing.'_

He knew it was just his fears talking through the boggart, but the thought was still eerie to him.

* * *

Vergil remained mostly silent for the rest of the day, his mind regularly wandering off to the encounter with Boggart. Acharon and Apolion… He was pretty sure from the start that seeing them in their demon forms would be his fear. Because of all the devils those two would be disastrous for the human kind. Apolion, the Sovereign Demon believed to be the strongest devil in history until Grom took him down. And his right hand, the last Rewera Kaiser, Acharon… There was one more reason why it was those two.

Both devils had history with Vergil…

The boy closed his eyes, the memories flooded his mind and he was drowning in them.

Apolion, the one responsible for the death of Vergil's mother, Irene Fisher…

Acharon, the devil whose blood Vergil carried.

Acharon Leonidas.

* * *

 _ **And that's it. About Irene's last name, I searched for a common British last name and Fisher popped up as 138th, how accurate this is, I have no idea. I admit I've never really put much thought behind her last name until I felt the need to have it there.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **RedHood001 – Thank you. I'm glad you do. I'm trying to find a balance with what I change, so far, given the opportunities I had I'm pleased if I can say so myself. It does mean a lot to hear it, so thank you.**_

 _ **i lovedifferentmixesup – Thank you.**_

 _ **josephguy217 – I'll try, thank you for encouragement.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you for the review.**_

 _ **Brit – Thank you. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, though it was a bit short, as well.**_

 _ **Innit though – Thank you, not really familiar with the phrase to be honest, but from what I Googled, thank you.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Practice Makes Perfect**_


	18. Practice Makes Perfect

_**Chapter 18 – Practice Makes Perfect**_

* * *

Night, the strongest ally of the ones with darkness dominion. Run all you want, there is no escape once the night falls. For darkness swallows, darkness consumes, darkness hides the strike of its ruler and the blood that splashes as a result.

He commands it, he is one with it and in the darkness he rises from his slumber. Feeds his primal needs, strikes down and consumes that which makes him stronger. And when he strikes, a faint sound of last breath escaping the victim resounds through the forest for no one to hear…

Lightning discharges high in the clouds and he raises his head, smirking. Not yet. He is far too weak… With every step he takes toward the edge of the forest the remaining creatures creep toward the mutilated remains of the victim.

* * *

In the morning Vergil woke up to a distinctive scent of blood. He sat up, clad in the darkness that surrounded him. His bandages seemed kind of stiff around his mouth and that's where the scent was coming from. There was also an even more distinctive taste of said liquid in his mouth, remains of at the very least.

It was beyond surprising to him, he felt fine and as far as he knew there would be no reason for blood to be present anywhere near him; let alone on his bandages and in his mouth. He took off the bandages and grabbed a fresh roll; he was supposed to change them anyway. The question was still on his mind though. Where did the blood come from…?

* * *

Rumors often spread like a wildfire. it didn't matter if it was someone from your house or from any other. Give people a reason to talk and they will talk.

Hermione was certain of it on that night.

"Have you heard about it? Apparently Leonidas' boggart was some horrible pair of demons." Parvati whispered to Lavender.

Vergil's last name coming up in a conversation wasn't something Hermione expected, especially not in this context.

"Demons?" Lavender urged Parvati, she certainly seemed willing to further spread the information.

"That's what Padma told me. She heard it from Pansy; if someone can know it's another Slytherin." Parvati explained. "Anyway, Pansy said they were terrifying."

"He sure is a strange one, that Leonidas. He's got a red eye, white hair, he's wearing bandages to cover half his face and now his boggart is a pair of demons." Lavender commented.

Hermione tried to ignore the two but a thought was already popping up in her mind. She clearly remembered the effects of Polyjuice Potion, the prolonged effects to be precise. Vergil was… suspicious to say the least.

Regardless, by tomorrow she noticed people staring at the white haired Slytherin during the meals. And from what she could notice, he was far from pleased.

* * *

She was right, making jokes about his encounter with Dementor or ignoring what happened with Buckbeak was one thing. His boggart was a completely different topic. Because he wouldn't dare joke about either of those two still being alive. Because Grom died to stop Apolion. Because the devil kind was now extinct; or at the very least extremely close to extinction.

Did he mind that the entire school knew about his boggart? No, he couldn't care less about what others thought. Did he find the stares and whispers annoying? Absolutely.

"Do you know who was it?" Draco suddenly asked.

"Who was what?" Vergil seemed confused as the sound of other students chatting surrounded them.

"That spread the word of course." Draco exclaimed, he was strangely annoyed. "We're Slytherins, we stick together." Yeah, he was annoyed.

"I don't know; I don't really care either. People will keep talking no matter what I do; at least until they get bored of the story. Give it a few days and hardly anyone will remember." Vergil reasoned, but he still grinned. This was a part of Draco and Slytherin as a whole that he genuinely appreciated.

"It's still wrong." Boy narrowed his eyes, glaring at the pudding on his plate.

"Draco's right for once. Mess with one of our own; you mess with all of us. Slytherin don't go around spreading rumors like that about their own." Blaise joined in.

"That's right. Hey! What was that about being 'right for once'?!" Draco snapped at the grinning boy.

Vergil couldn't fight back the smile that crept on to his face. "You two… Thanks."

Lupin leaving the Great Hall made Vergil's eye brighten as realization hit him.

"Now that I think about it, you owe me ten Galleons." Vergil smirked at surprised Draco.

"No I don't. Look at him; he dresses like my family's old house elf." Draco didn't even bother to hide his opinion on the shabby looking man.

"House what?" Vergil questioned.

"The small creatures that clean, make food, they are pretty much servants." Blaise chipped in making Vergil remember seeing the elves once or twice.

"Ah, those creatures." He nodded. "Either way the bet wasn't about his appearance, it was about his teaching. Don't tell me he's not at the very least competent."

Draco narrowed his eyes, trying to think of an argument.

"Just face it. He's provided us with practical lesson." Vergil began pointing out the arguments that would back up his statement.

"That caused these rumors in the first place." Draco hissed, evidently still annoyed about the entire thing.

"Which is my fault. I'm the one scared of two devils." Vergil stated. "Furthermore he's far more competent than Quirrell or Lockhart, especially Lockhart. His explanations are on point, he knows the subject and how to teach it. Accept it; despite the lack of competition, he is the best Defense teacher we've had thus far."

"He's right." Was all Blaise had to say.

"Fine… You'll get your ten galleons. He's somewhat competent, I suppose." It wasn't much, but Vergil would gladly accept the fact that Draco did say it, even if he did sound like he was spiting venom out of his mouth.

The lunch was coming to an end when Vergil stood up.

"Going outside?" Draco asked knowing Vergil's habits by now.

"Yeah, I really need to get some fresh air." Vergil explained and headed outside. He walked through the halls, crossing paths with a couple of groups of students. It was rare for anyone to walk on their own; even if you were a first year you most likely got some company by now.

A few students glanced at him before quickly looking away. Not Slytherins though.

He stepped outside and took a deep breath. The soft scent of grass tickled his senses as he sat down and leaned against the wall. The sky was still bright blue, a rare occurrence given the time of the year and while he felt better during storms Vergil could greatly appreciate the calming blue of the sky above him.

He pulled out his wand, merely as a distraction as he played with lightning. He made the sparks circle around him. He concentrated and forced the sparks to take a form of a small orb, one that he made roll across the grass, he lifted it into the air and directed it to the tip of his finger. The orb was barely a bit bigger than a small candy, bright blue and just slightly audible.

Lightning… The true force of destruction.

Light, darkness, fire, water, air, earth, these and many other powers wielded by devils could in some way shape or form protect someone other than the user…

Lightning couldn't.

Lightning could numb the wound, but numbness took away the sensory function of the affected nerves.

'All it can do is destroy. All you can do is succumb to it, for there is no hope of controlling it. Never trust lightning to protect, it never lasts long enough to do anything but attack.' That's the way it was described by devils.

Vergil knew the power of lightning; he felt it on his own skin the first time it emerged from his body. The only reason he had as much control over it as he did was because of Grom. After all Grom was the first to completely control lightning.

Boy frowned and made an equally small orb of darkness, he made the two collide, trying to force them together. The two fought for dominance, ignoring Vergil's attempt to make them coexist in a single entity. The orbs burst apart, causing a miniature blast in front of him.

Sighing, Vergil stood up and headed back into the castle.

"Vergil…" A timid voice made him look to the side. Neville was the one who called him.

"Hey. Is everything alright?" Vergil asked as he approached the round faced Gryffindor.

"Yes, I was just wondering if you'd… you know… help me out… with potions…?" Neville whispered, Vergil didn't even hear most of what he said over the sound of other students passing by and talking. He did hear 'help' and 'potions' amongst a few other words.

"Sure. How about we head to the library and start right away?" Vergil suggested.

"Thanks Vergil." Neville finally dared to look directly into the red eye. Surprisingly it wasn't as hardened as usually.

"Don't mention it." The white haired Slytherin grinned. "Is there any potion you'd like to start with?"

"I didn't really think about that. Where would you start from?" Neville asked, he sounded slightly more relaxed and less timid as he said that.

Vergil remained silent, thinking things through. "Beginning would do. We'll go over potions we learnt over the past two years and then get to the ones we're learning now. How about that?" He eventually suggested.

"If it's not too much of a bother… I'd really like that." Neville told him.

"I assure you, it's not in any way a bother." Vergil said as they turned to the right and reached the library doors.

Vergil nodded to Madam Pince as they walked in and led Neville to the more secluded, thus even more quiet area of the library.

"What potion do you remember we did in our first year?" Vergil asked as they sat down.

"Uh, Cure for boils." Neville offered the answer.

"Let's start from the basics. Cure for boils is used to treat pustules, hives, boils, in other words many scrofulous conditions. It is relatively easy to make, however it should be carefully brewed; as it causes boils if prepared incorrectly." Vergil explained clearly. Observing carefully for any sign of Neville not being certain of what he was listening to.

"Cures scrofulous conditions when done right, causes them when done wrong." Neville repeated to himself.

"That's right. Now, every potion has key ingredients, the first step is to learn the steps, second is to learn how to make it. Third step is to master the potion and that is done by learning how to recognize the key ingredients. For example snake fangs are often used to strengthen, like in Strength potion; because of the properties of ingredient the potion is more effective. However that does not necessarily mean snake fangs are vital to the potion." Vergil continued going over each of the ingredients at a pace just about moderate enough for Neville to write down a few things and repeat what he heard.

"Once you know what the key ingredients are you can focus more attention to them, cut them into more even pieces, crush them for a bit longer, do what you can for the ingredient to merge with the potion better. Potions are, before anything else, precise. Forget 'around' and 'about' it's 'exact'." The two continued going through the theory about Cure for boils for about an hour and a half.

"I think I can make it now." Neville finally said.

"I'll ask Snape to use the classroom one of these days so we can actually make it." Vergil told him, suddenly Neville's eyes widened in horror.

"Professor Snape would never allow me…! Not after the boggart." He panicked. And he had a reason, his boggart was Snape and he made the boggart change into Snape wearing his grandmother's clothes.

Vergil had to chuckle at that. "Leave it to me." Vergil assured him.

"Vergil I'm serious…!" Yet Neville wasn't that easy to assure, not even Madam Pince telling them to be quiet helped. Vergil's grin certainly didn't, in fact the effect it had was complete opposite.

"He's not that bad." Vergil said.

"Yes he is." Neville pointed out. "You're Slytherin, he doesn't bully you."

"I'm more than just a Slytherin, I'm his protégé." Vergil's grin faded slightly, it was the first time he said he was protégé of anyone other than Grom. It didn't feel foreign though, putting Snape in a position that only Grom had before.

"There's no arguing with you…" Neville gave up on trying to make the Slytherin see the reason.

"So I've been told." Vergil smirked and began making his way to the doors. "Same time tomorrow?"

That took Nevile aback a bit. "Yes, if it isn't a b-"

"Say 'bother' one more time and I'll prepare Cure for boils incorrectly, pour it over you and leave you to handle it yourself." Vergil said sternly.

"Uh no… I was about to say if it isn't a…" Neville made a pause as he searched for a good word to use. "…Brilliant idea I don't know what is?"

"Are you asking me?" Vergil tilted his head slightly to the left.

"No, of course I'm not." The white haired boy just shook his head; the grin on his face was reassuring though.

"I'll see you later." He decided to go to Snape and now he had an extra reason.

* * *

Not even ten minutes later Vergil found himself in Snape's office.

"We've already had the extra lessons, or have you forgotten about them?" Snape greeted him with his regular demeanor.

"I'm here to ask for permission to use the classroom to give Longbottom a practical example on how to brew potion we've covered today." Vergil explained.

"Longbottom? You're wasting time." Snape plainly stated.

"I've been known to waste a lot of things. Some of which I regret more than I could ever regret taking time to try and help him." Vergil said, sounding older than his age in that very moment. Snape glanced at his red eye for a single moment, as if to access if there was more to what Vergil just said.

"You're trying to make a miracle happen." It was yet another statement.

"I don't believe in miracles. Does that mean we can use the classroom?" Vergil assumed.

"It's your choice. If Longbottom does, by some higher, miracle, show signs of improvement, you won't have any consequences. But when he does fail to show results you will be permanently banned from taking extra potion lessons." Snape decided, perhaps he tried to test the white haired boy, or to persuade him against wasting the time. Regardless Vergil had no doubt Snape would follow up on his words.

"I'm willing to take that risk." Vergil smirked, confident in Neville's ability to learn, but even more in his own ability to teach.

"You're free to go." Yet he didn't move. "Is there anything else?" Snape asked when Vergil didn't leave his office.

"I want to learn about the Dark Arts."

If he wasn't trying to look completely serious Vergil would have begun laughing. In over two years that he knew Severus Snape never had he seen the man's face shift from the emotionless mask to a look of surprise. The way Snape abruptly turned to look at him didn't help much.

"And exactly, why, do you believe, that would be a, good idea?" Snape seemed ready to rage and he was seething at Vergil.

"There's only so far I can go with just learning about it. There's a limit on how well one can defend against something that they don't know how to use." Vergil pointed out as if it was obvious and to him, it was. You learn how to write letters, and then you learn how to read the words. It doesn't work properly the other way around. You learn how to attack before you learn how to defend against said attack.

"You do understand your position. If word gets out that you, who is already dubbed as 'You-Know-Whose Incarnate' by the Minister, are practicing the Dark Arts you won't need to move a finger, you'll be getting a one-way ticket to Azkaban." Snape hissed at him, lowering his voice as to not be heard by anyone other than the cambion in front of him.

Vergil narrowed his eye. "I am not going to let that control me. If that's what he's going to do then I don't care. Don't you get it? I don't have anything to lose."

' _We're Slytherins, we stick together.'_

"All I can do right now is to make sure that when I need to I can keep the handful of those I care about safe. I can't do it while I stay ignorant of this world." Vergil argued.

' _It was all for nothing.'_

"Please, let me, help me, get stronger." He bowed his head down, pleading for the Potions master to see his reasoning. The silence was deafening to his ears, the only sound he could register was the beating of his heart. The consistent, wild drumming against his chest way quicker than it was meant to be.

Finally, Snape spoke up.

"You can study Dark Creatures for the time being. I expect to see more dedication to potions as well. That is all." Well, it was something. More than he expected if he was being honest. "As for the study of the Dark Arts, we shall leave that topic, for another time."

* * *

 _ **That's it.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Anime PJ – Thank you. Well I've been given the chance; it would have been a waste not to use it.**_

 _ **RedHood001 – Don't worry, I don't mind reviews getting more into detail. As you have noticed yes, the rumors had been spread. Not only were they screaming, but given the way rumors about Neville's boggart spread it would be unlikely for Vergil's not to get similar treatment.**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thank you very much.**_

 _ **Guest – I guess it is.**_

 _ **Brit – Thank you, hope you enjoyed this one too.**_

 _ **Theboblinator – Thank you very much. I guess reading more at once is a better way to take any story in, especially given how I don't often make chapters longer than 4000 words. Regardless, thank you for the compliments; I appreciate the time you took to write a review as long as this one. About Snape's side of the story, well perhaps at one point. Snape isn't exactly someone who'd spill his story just like that. I certainly plan on getting something done with the books finale, but I would rather not spoil anything.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – It's Always Halloween**_


	19. It's Always Halloween

_**Chapter 19 – It's Always Halloween**_

* * *

Some time passed and by now Vergil grew quite fond of Lupin's lessons and accustomed to the talking behind his back. At least now he knew, the information gotten from Draco and confirmed by Blaise, further confirmed by the fact that the culprit did scream the loudest… Parkinson opening her damned mouth to Ravenclaw Patil, which got to the other twin, who was in Gryffindor; from there it ended up easily reaching some flower-named Brown. And that is how it spread like a wildfire.

Now he knew but he couldn't exactly blame the girl. The fact that a third-year student had a fear of something like devils was pretty damn suspicious. Especially to teachers, most of whom were well aware of his 'You-Know-Whose-Incarnate' unofficial title and his direct disrespectful treatment of the flying instructor Madam Hooch.

Either way it was Halloween and that was a special day for the third year students; it would be their first visit to Hogsmeade. Of course they needed to have the permission to visit it signed by their parent or guardian. In Vergil's case he needed Snape's signature, something that he easily received during the summer holiday.

So that's how Vergil ended up in Hogsmeade with Draco and Blaise, oh and Crabbe and Goyle who followed Draco like shadows but weren't really that much of a company.

So far the Halfling was far from impressed by the village. The Gladrags Wizardwear, a clothing shop, wasn't much of an interest to him, neither was the hairdressing salon, or the post office, or the railway station. Don't even get him started on how much he lacks any desire to go into 'the haunt of happy couples' as they referred to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. It seemed like Draco wanted to go to the placed that were the least interesting first and then proceed to the more interesting ones, or so Vergil hoped as they left a greengrocer's shop, yet another place he didn't find much interest in.

They eventually entered a bookshop and Vergil began going through the place, merely glancing at the titles.

"I think I'll stay here for a while, go ahead without me." He suddenly said to Draco.

"There are so many good things you are yet to see!" Draco tried to persuade his stubborn friend.

"Draco, we both know that I have no interest in sporting goods, sweets or that joke shop you kept talking about. I'll go check the potions shop and I don't know, walk around for a bit." Vergil explained. He reached out for a book on ancient runes and began flipping the pages.

"He's got a point. None of those places interest Vergil." Blaise pointed out.

"I guess not. We'll meet up later then." Draco said making Vergil nod.

The half-human sighed as he was left on his own, the books he could buy here would have nothing about devils. Even if such books existed in this place they would certainly be off limit for the children. Still, he took his chances.

History… charms… transfiguration… books used in classes… nope nothing about devils, or even demons. Yeah… this was a waste of time. Eventually he decided to just leave the bookstore and head for the potions shop.

A shiver ran down his spine and not from the wind. The sensation he hadn't felt in over two years. He frantically began looking around, searching for the cause of the feeling. A devil. There was no mistaking that…

Vergil began running, passing by the students as he sprinted toward the less popular part of the village. " _Why?! Why would a devil come to Hogsmeade?!_ " It was the only question he had in mind. He couldn't answer it but he didn't like it.

His search led him to an inn, an old looking, kind of suspicious inn. 'Hog's Head Inn'. That's what the sign said as Vergil approached it and opened the doors. There was no doubt in his mind; he felt a devil in this building.

He walked in and was immediately greeted with a handful of cloaked individuals sitting in a very dirty room at the rough wooden tables. The bartender seemed familiar for some reason, with the tall and thin build, long grey hair and beard and bright blue eyes behind the spectacles with dirty lenses.

If the occasion was any different he'd probably stop to think about who this man was reminding him of, but given the circumstances he had more important things to do. He closed his eyes, concentrated and searched for the distinctive feeling of a devil's signature power wavelength.

And he found it, upstairs. There was no time for any distraction, chit-chat or anything else, he needed to get upstairs and find the damn devil.

"And where do you think you're going." The grumpy voice made him halt just as he took one step up the stairs.

"Upstairs." Vergil blankly stated as he turned to look at the old man. "I need to check on something."

"Is that so?" The man was obviously not buying it.

And then it disappeared, the devil was gone. Vergil greeted his teeth, he missed the opportunity, the devil left and Halfling had a few ideas on how he did it, each one worse than the previous. One thing was clear; there was at least one devil that survived. At least one devil had been in this realm at the right time…

"Guess not." Vergil couldn't suppress himself; his response came out with quite a dose of anger. He walked by the bar with clear intention of leaving.

"That one at least had some brain to be discreet." The old man grumbled.

Vergil froze on spot, but other than that he didn't respond to the statement.

"Running in without a second thought, how very noble of you to try and play a hero." Was the man taunting him… or was he merely looking down on him. Either could apply. Both would be right, he was foolish to rush in.

"Devils are meant to be extinct." Boy stated under his breath, just loud enough for the old man to hear him.

"Devils will never go extinct." It was an argument Vergil could hardly counter. He was a half-devil, which was enough to say that devils weren't completely gone. And as he now confirmed at least one devil was still alive.

Blood red eye clashed with the bright blue eyes behind the dirty lenses.

"Vergil! There you are, come on; we have to get back to school." Draco interrupted any further conversation that could have happened. The boy sounded disappointed, that much was clear to Vergil.

"I lost track of time, my bad." Vergil looked at the old bartender once again and nodded. "Goodbye."

The old man didn't honor him with a response though.

"What were you doing here anyway?" Draco asked as he and Vergil stepped outside.

"Not much. I was looking around." Vergil replied, seriously how was he supposed to be honest with Draco and say that he could feel devil presence, it would be a sure-fire way to give away the other half of his family tree.

* * *

As the group made their way to the Great Hall Vergil noticed Snape walking in his usual gliding-like manner to the same place.

"Go ahead, I want to ask Snape about something." Vergil said and picked up the pace to catch up with the potions master. "Professor. Can I talk to you about something?" Vergil said once he reached the man.

Snape turned around to face the boy. "About what?"

"I'm sure I sensed a devil back when we were in Hogsmeade, in Hog's Head Inn." Cambion cut to the point once he was sure no one else could hear him.

"Are you absolutely certain?" Snape question and for a good reason.

"I know it's been a long time since I last sensed a devil but I would never make a mistake concerning that." Vergil assured him.

"I will talk to Headmaster about this. You can relax." Snape took his words seriously, that was enough for Vergil to feel like a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He looked at the potions master, at the only person he completely trusted in this world. And he felt calm.

"Thank you." Those two words weren't meant only for the assurance Snape offered him. They were meant for much more, more than Vergil himself could fully understand.

* * *

When Vergil and Snape walked in the Great Hall the feast had already started and the hall itself was as decorated as every year on this day. The two separated and went to their usual spots in the hall.

Snape's words gave Vergil somewhat of an assurance, but he still didn't exactly enjoy the feast as much as he should have. And he really should have enjoyed it because the food was amazing to say the least.

Yet he really couldn't push the thoughts outside of his head, not even ghosts entertaining them was good enough of a reason to fully relax. With feast finally ending the students began going to their dormitories.

"The dementors send their love, Potter!" Draco exclaimed loud enough for Potter to hear.

"Don't you ever get bored of taunting him like that?" Blaise asked as they separated from the other Slytherins and entered their room.

"He's the one that's making it entertaining." Draco pointed out and pointed at Vergil. "Vergil's been making jokes about it, remember?"

"And even he stopped doing that after a few days, it was getting boring." Blaise countered making Vergil smirk.

"Give it up Blaise. Draco's enjoying his obsession with Potter too much." Cambion's comment made Blaise smirk as well.

"I am not obsessed with Potter…!" Draco hissed at Vergil.

"Sure you're not." Vergil brushed it off.

"Vergil I'm serious!"

"I know." And Vergil kept teasing him.

"I'll jinx you one of these days." Draco rolled his eyes, made an empty threat and threw a chocolate frog from his bag at Vergil.

"Better not try that mate, Vergil's a monster." Blaise clearly still remembered his and Vergil's little duel back when Lockhart first started the dueling club.

"A monster? No, I'm a devil." Vergil smirked.

"Same thing." Blaise brushed off what he assumed to be a joke.

"Guess it is." Vergil ate the frog and lied on his bed. The thoughts about the devil he sensed finally got pushed to the back of his mind.

* * *

Not even half an hour later the very confused Slytherin students were led back into the Great Hall, apparently Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were just as confused. It didn't come as much of a surprise to find out that Gryffindors seemed to have some idea on what is going on.

"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle." Dumbledore informed them as McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall.

"Why is it always Halloween…?" Vergil grumbled much to Draco and Blaise's amusement as Dumbledore explained the situation and informed the students about some sort of danger. Vergil concentrated on trying to find a devil presence in the castle but he couldn't feel anyone. So whatever the danger was it most likely had nothing to do with the devil he sensed. That allowed the boy to somewhat relax as Dumbledore casually waved his wand making the long tables flow to the edges of the hall. Another wave later the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.

"Why… purple…?" Vergil looked annoyed as he stared at the sleeping bag near him.

"Sleep well." Dumbledore told them as he closed the doors behind him.

And thus the rumble of hundreds of voices engulfed the place that was meant to be used as make-shift bedroom.

"I don't care what's going on… Just let me sleep." Obviously Vergil was annoyed at the presence of hundreds of talkative humans making noise around him.

Hours passed and Vergil found it hard to properly fall asleep, he drifted off into the unconsciousness of sleep for around half an hour before waking up, the process was repeated until around half past two in the morning when he finally gave up on trying to force himself to sleep.

* * *

It was around three in the morning when Dumbledore came back. The wizard's arrival made Vergil open his eye; even in the darkness he could see the old man looking around for the oldest Weasley in the school.

"Any sign of him, Professor?" Vergil barely picked up on Weasley's whisper, they were far, not far enough for Vergil not to hear them, but far enough for him to have to strain to do so.

"No. All well here?" Dumbledore asked, it was his top priority.

"Everything under control, sir." Weasley assured him. At that point Vergil stopped straining himself to hear the conversation, there was no point in doing so. At least that's what he thought until just a bit later Snape walked in.

"Headmaster?" Snape announced his presence. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."

"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?" Dumbledore questioned.

"All searched."

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger." He still made sure everything was properly searched, something Vergil had to respect.

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" Snape asked, sounding more like he was trying to remind Dumbledore of something.

"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before… ah… the start of term?" Snape questioned with a dose of resentment in his voice.

"I do, Severus." Yet Dumbledore responded with a subtle warning.

"It seems… almost impossible… that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when, you appointed-" Snape didn't need to finish the sentence, it was obvious that he was referring to Lupin, after all he was the only one appointed this year. Sure, it could have been someone appointed earlier, but given the animosity Snape expressed toward the man it was pretty clear to Vergil.

"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it." Dumbledore closed the subject firmly.

Cambion clenched his fist. Suppressing the surge of electricity that threatened to come out he narrowed his eye. Looking back at Snape he saw the resentment clearly shown on his features.

* * *

A few days later Black's attempted break in was all students were talking about, each story was getting more ridiculous.

"I get why Gryffindors could talk about the break in, but why in the electricity deprived hell are Hufflepuffs making up stories?!" Vergil groaned to Draco as they waited for Lupin to arrive.

"They're hungry for attention obviously." Draco offered a rather logical response.

"I'll never understand that." Halfling muttered as, to his surprise, Snape walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Another house may question the absence of the shabby looking professor; however these were Slytherins, some of which didn't exactly like Lupin. Most importantly this was their Head of the House; none of them had anything against Snape teaching them.

"Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far." Snape stated, commenting on the lack of organization. "He is hardly overtaxing you, I, would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and grindylows."

One did not require any special observatory skills to notice the clear, dislike, to put it lightly, that Snape harbored for Lupin.

"Today we shall discuss…" He flicked through the textbook. "Werewolves." Well, that was unexpected. "Turn to page…" He made a small pause, just the way he so often did. "394."

These were the members of his house; they obeyed without a single question.

"Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" Snape questioned.

Vergil raised his hand.

"Leonidas." Snape gave him permission to speak.

"Compared to wolves, werewolves have shorter snouts, tufted tails and more human-like eyes." Vergil replied confidently. The time spent on learning about the more dangerous creatures of this world was paying off.

"Five points to Slytherin." Snape awarded him. "Make notes on werewolves from the textbook, as a start." He instructed the class and so the parchments and quills were taken out, the quills were dipped into the ink and the class was filled by the sounds of students scribbling down their notes.

"You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment or, the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand." Snape assigned them with the homework just before the bell rang.

* * *

Under Snape's tutelage Vergil kept taking in knowledge about the Dark creatures, the lessons were kept secret from everyone else; just like the two had decided. Well Dumbledore probably knew, scratch that, Dumbledore must have known about this.

Vergil honestly couldn't care less; he was loyal to Snape and Snape only. He didn't care about Dumbledore's opinion on this matter, much less if the Headmaster was against him learning about this.

"Concerning the next potion you are to study, I have decided to; give you a more complex task, this time." Snape told him and at that moment nothing in the world seemed more important as Vergil looked up. Clearly the boy was excited at the thought of learning more about one subject he was completely dedicating himself to. "You know about the Wolfsbane potion." It was a statement, Snape made sure Vergil knew about most of the potions and their effects, just not how to make them.

Though confused by the strange choice of the potion he would start learning Vergil couldn't suppress the smile that appeared on his face. "The Wolfsbane potion is a recently discovered potion that relieves the symptoms of lycanthropy. Main ingredient being wolfsbane, also known as aconite or monkshood. Wolfsbane is a highly poisonous substance which makes brewing the potion extremely difficult." Vergil summed up the knowledge he had on the potion.

"Proceed to study the ingredients." Snape nodded; apparently satisfied with the response he received from the boy.

As he kept reading the word lycanthropy kept sticking out like a sore thumb. Why sudden fixation with werewolves…? Vergil's eye widened as realization hit him like a bolt of lightning. "Lupin is a werewolf." He breathed out, the Wolfsbane potion, the absence during the full moon… The crystal orb that boggart transformed in was moon. It was all obvious now.

Of course, if he, a half-devil could attend Hogwarts then so could a werewolf!

He looked at Snape and the man seemed proud. "Correct."

* * *

 _ **And that's it.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Brit – Thank you. Who else would get suspicious but the brightest witch of her age of course.**_

 _ **RedHood001 – No, it's not weird at all. He had been shown using darkness before anything else, so it was to be somewhat expected. I'm assuming the 'individual' you are talking about is Voldemort, or Lucius, I could be wrong, so uh, could you clarify who exactly you're talking about? Either way I can tell you that the parallels between Vergil and Snape are all absolutely intentional, so yeah, I get what you mean with that.**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thanks for encouragement.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you, as I said who else but Hermione could get suspicious.**_

 _ **Kneel before zod – Ah, I suppose not. I haven't really portrayed Vergil as that easy to lash out, plus he doesn't exactly have someone who'd go out of their way to taunt or tease him.**_

 _ **i lovedifferentmixesup – Thank you.**_

 _ **adityasharma1 .2528 – Thank you.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Not Alone**_


	20. Not Alone

_**Chapter 20 – Not Alone**_

* * *

Draco just received the letter from his father, the letter that held the news he wanted to say to Vergil right away. They won. With the happy thought on his mind he bolted down the stairs from the Great Hall to the dungeons.

As usually the white haired boy was sitting in the common room analyzing the potions in his book. To Draco it was pointless for Vergil to keep studying the same potions over and over again, after all he was pretty certain that Vergil could match up to seventh year students with ease.

"Read this for a change." Draco placed the letter on the page that Vergil finished reading. He could see Vergil's curiosity quite clearly in the unusual red eye.

Draco watched, excited for Vergil's reaction as his friend grasped the letter and put the book away. The subtle widening of Vergil's eye was just what he expected.

"This is the hippogriff that nearly hurt you, right?" Vergil asked.

"Yes, bloody chicken will get what it deserves, too bad the oaf will keep teaching us." Draco replied.

"And there's no way your father will revoke his complaint?" The question took him aback, somewhat. He sort of expected Vergil to not be completely pleased with this.

"Bloody thing hurt you. It needs to pay." Draco sat down on the opposite side of the table looking fiercely into the red eye of his fellow Slytherin.

Vergil sighed and rubbed his temples with his left hand. "Look, it's not that I don't appreciate you looking out for me, but I don't want this. Hippogriff acted just like any other animal would have after being provoked. It doesn't need to be executed over a couple of scratches that healed right away." He explained calmly, but to Draco his reasoning was far from correct.

"You are too soft, it could have killed you." He pointed out waiting for Vergil's response.

"It didn't. I get why you did this though, if the roles were reversed I'd probably act in a similar way." There was something Vergil wasn't telling him, but just the fact that he would have acted was strangely enough. Draco watched as Vergil leaned back and looked at the lake above them. "I'm still going to try and find something that can help its case."

"I knew you'd say that." Draco smirked. "That's just like you."

"If you say so." Vergil smirked back and the two fell into comfortable silence.

"Would you like to spend Christmas Break with me, come over to my manor?" Draco asked.

"I'd like that." Vergil replied.

* * *

Vergil was honestly rethinking his idea of joining Draco over the holidays.

"This could end either really well, or really bad, there's no in between with me." He still sounded quite relaxed as he mounted Draco's spare Nimbus 2001.

Draco merely smirked at him from above. "Come on Vergil; don't tell me you can't handle a broom." He taunted knowing full well that it could awaken some sort of desire to compete in Vergil.

"Oh you asked for it." He sounded actually motivated, and he wasn't doing anything related to potions, meaning this was scary… Vergil pushed himself off the ground with enough force to go up in the air way above Draco with little to no control.

"Maybe we should have taken it slowly…" Draco said to himself as Vergil fought to get control over the broom, in the end, the white haired boy crashed. Draco flew down and landed right next to still lying Vergil who had some snow covering his face as he stared at the sky.

"Guess never properly learning how to use the broom and not using it for over two years won't make it onto my list of the smartest things I've ever done." He snorted as he sat up.

"Are you going to give up?" Draco asked making Vergil smirk.

"Nope, I don't like giving up." Needless to say he crashed many, many times before he finally managed to make a proper circle around the manor with Draco. Luckily snow did wonders to keep the Halfling's falls somewhat cushioned.

* * *

Twentieth of April was approaching, yeah, there was still about two months, but given the fact that Vergil found nothing that could help the hippogriff two months seemed like a very short period of time.

Taking a stand and being a witness in the court would have probably served as the best action he could take. At least when it came to helping the creature. Regardless, as Snape had put it, he didn't need any additional attention from the Ministry. Especially now that he was indulging in studies of the darker side of magic…

He wanted to help, but he wasn't stupid or fond of the hippogriff. With that in mind he just kept searching for something, anything that would direct him in the right direction.

* * *

Gryffindor won against Ravenclaw in a quidditch match so why in the world was Slytherin missing points? A hell of a lot of points.

"Draco happened if that's what you're wondering." Nott walked up to him.

"He decided to go through with 'Scare-Potter' plan then." Vergil sighed, Draco did plot to mask into a Dementor to interfere with Potter. Naturally Goyle and Crabbe joined him, surprisingly, or perhaps not so much, so did equally smart Flint

"You are smart, Leonidas. Why bother with someone like Draco?" Nott questioned when he made sure no one was listening.

Vergil turned to look at him, the red eye narrowed dangerously.

"He lacks backbone and you know it. He's all talk, when it comes down to acting he'll get cold feet." Nott stated, he was blatantly ignoring the look in Vergil's eye, the subtle anger that rose inside of the white haired Slytherin. "You on the other hand… Saving Draco at the extent of getting injured yourself, that's just being loyal to a fault. There are better people to be loyal to Vergil, ditch Draco."

"That's Leonidas and you better remember it Nott. Be careful what you meddle with, you might just find for yourself how loyal to a fault I can be." Vergil growled, yes Nott was Slytherin too, but just being a Slytherin didn't put him on the same ground as Draco.

"Whoa, easy there. You just proved my point, well, if you ever reconsider my offer, it still stands." Nott said and walked by Vergil.

* * *

Things weren't looking good for the hippogriff. There weren't that many cases he could further look into in search of something that would help Hagrid defend the creature.

"This is ridiculous." He sighed and noticed Granger sitting at her usual spot. With nothing to lose he decided to walk up to her and even from thirty feet he could see how exhausted she was. "You really need to take a break, you'll overwork yourself." His voice made her jump in her seat.

"Vergil-" Why was she so familiar with him ever since the end of their second year? He still called her by her last name yet she insisted on calling him Vergil. "I need to keep researching; I have to find something that will help Buckbeak's case." She explained as she observed the way he was dressed, it was still cold and yet there he was, lacking the winter cloak and jumper, leaving him with white buttoned up shirt and tie. Wasn't he cold in just that?

Here she was, working herself to death with all the subjects she was taking and now she was trying to help the hippogriff, all on her own. For some reason he felt guilty… He glanced over the titles of the books she took to read in hopes of finding something.

"You can return those. I've already checked them." The statement caused her to abruptly turn to him as he scratched the back of his head and looked to his left. "I don't exactly want the feather face to get killed because of me."

"You… Are you serious?" Granger had to ask, the tone of surprise in her voice was mildly irritating.

"I'm not that much of a cold-hearted bastard." The fact that he cared little if at all about the words he used was met with a frown of undeniable disapproval.

"Language." She berated him.

"It's a word, it's meant to be used." Vergil countered. "My vocabulary aside, where are Potter and Weasley?"

"Why do you ask?" She suddenly got very defensive.

"No reason. I just figured they should be helping you out. Hagrid is, from what I gathered, a mutual friend of you three, right?" Vergil explained.

Granger turned around, refusing to face him for a reason he couldn't possibly grasp. All he noticed was a shaky breath that escaped her lips. Something happened; it wouldn't take a genius to figure that one out. He didn't know why, he just stepped forward, stopped behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"What are you- oh…" She didn't need any explanations as he began slowly massaging her shoulders. The pressure he made was just enough for her to relax, gentle, subtle, far from anything she would have expected if she ever even thought about Vergil giving anyone a massage.

"You need a break." Vergil muttered as he slowly moved her bushy hair away from her back and over her shoulder. This allowed him to lower his thumbs down her back and make soothing motions over her muscles.

"You don't need to." Yet it was clear she was enjoying herself, the content smile on her face that he couldn't see… the way her body adjusted to his touch… As it was he wouldn't stop.

"There are many things we don't need to do." He continued massaging her for about fifteen minutes, never changing the pace, barely increasing the pressure for just a bit as his fingers found knots in her muscles. "Can I move to your neck?" It wasn't a question a human needed to be asked. Sure, human neck was sensitive, but not even close to being comparable to that of a devil.

"Yes, sure." Granger, despite being caught off guard gave him permission. "You didn't need my consent fifteen minutes ago though." She smiled as she reminded him of the way this all started.

"Fair point." Vergil raised his hands up to her neck and continued the massage, he was extra careful of how much pressure he put into it but with the way Granger reacted he was certain that she was enjoying herself.

"Would you like to take a walk outside? Take a breath of fresh air in while it's not too cold." Vergil suggested. Granger was clearly thinking about what to decide, whether or not she had enough time or if the Slytherin had any ulterior motives.

"Sure." Granger stood up, smiled slightly at him and side by side they left the castle ignoring, at least in Vergil's case the stares caused by Gryffindor and Slytherin walking together somewhere.

Vergil led her down to the forest, all the way to the lake. Through the walk they didn't exchange a single word; merely enjoying each other's company seemed to be enough.

"Sometimes it's easier to talk to an acquaintance." Vergil suddenly said as they stopped by the lake, the white carpet that covered the forest floor until recently was scarcely around them, the forest was waking up from its slumber. Granger sat down on one the bigger boulders by the lake, refusing to face him and just taking in the sight of the lake in front of them. "I'll listen." He sat down on the ground and leaned against the rock she was sitting on.

Another deep, shaky breath, he didn't need to look at her to know that she was fighting back all the emotions she was desperate to suppress. "I appreciate the offer but-"

"Hermione." Her name, just her name, just simply breaking the habit of calling her 'Granger'… Just the way he said it, gently, yet with the dose of familiarity that they didn't know between one another. Familiarity that she craved nonetheless. And just that seemed to be enough for her. Enough to at the very least set her thoughts in motion, because that's all she seemed to be doing.

Sighing, he stood up, it wasn't working like this. Vergil turned to look at Hermione; this girl was infuriating in a way, in a very endearing way. Without thinking he reached out to her, his palm open for her to see as he offered her his hand. "Being independent is a necessity, but most things are easier when you have help. So how about it? Will you let me help you find a way to free the feather face?"

He just stood there, looking at Hermione. Brown eyes widened just for a friction of a second and Vergil couldn't even register what was going on as she stood up and flung her arms way too close to his neck for his comfort… Still when she leaned her forehead against his shoulder, when he heard her sobbing, his instincts took a back seat.

Which didn't mean he knew what to do. Standing still wouldn't do any good to either of them; that much he knew. Reluctantly he wrapped his arms around her; the action itself was quite a surprise for him. He didn't exactly indulge in intimate forms of contact such as hugs. Yet waiting for Hermione to calm down from her sudden emotional discharge wasn't something he predicted he'd have to do.

"Everything's my fault, first the Firebolt, now Scabbers… Ron won't talk to me and Harry is siding with him." She finally opened up. "Harry got the Firebolt for Christmas; I thought it could have been sent by Black so I told Professor McGonagall about it. She confiscated it for some time and they were angry at me. Ron's rat is missing and he thinks Crookshanks ate him. Crookshanks is my pet so that's my fault as well according to him."

"And they're not talking to you?" He sounded angry and he was, a lot. You don't leave your friend like this for so long over something so trivial.

"No, they're not. And I've got so many things I need to do, studying, homework, preparing for exams, Buckbeak's case. I'm just so… tired…" She finally admitted, surprised at how easy it was to tell him all this. Surprised at the way he tightened his grip on her, at the way he pulled her closer.

He remained silent, letting the actions speak instead of words. Letting the way he held her, the way he allowed her hand to brush against his neck as she gripped at his shirt speak instead of him.

* * *

Potions class was about to start for Slytherins and Gryffindors in a few minutes Snape would come into the classroom and they'd get down to work.

Hermione was running a bit late for some reason but it worked well for Vergil, he walked up to Potter and Weasley.

"You know, Potter, up until some time ago I didn't really buy the entire arrogant, self-centered rumors about you. Guess I was wrong, and looks like Weasley ain't much better either." Vergil said directly.

"What was that Leonidas?!" Weasley was the first one to react.

"Ever the loyal friend, I'd almost admire that about you, if it weren't for a particular detail."

"What are you on about Leonidas?" Potter seemed ready to lash out as well, to Potter, Vergil was Draco's best friend, meaning the grudge against Draco was somewhat passed down to Vergil as well.

"Your apparent belief that it is acceptable to cut ties with a close friend over something as worthless as an object or a pet." Vergil stated, the tranquil anger was so obvious in his voice that it could be felt by anyone listening.

Without anything else to say or hear as an excuse Vergil stepped to his regular table where Draco joined him.

"That was brilliant." Draco told him. "Hey Potter! Are you about to pass out, you tend to do that when you're scared!" He taunted loudly causing some of the Slytherins to laugh.

"Shut up Malfoy!" Potter replied fiercely just as Hermione entered, right on time as well.

"Look who's brave now." Blaise joined in. "Well, Vergil can be quite scary."

"And you're only having guts because he's with you." Weasley snapped.

"What is going on here?" Hermione asked Vergil as she took her book out.

"A regular occurrence?" Vergil suggested.

"No it's not. Your name doesn't exactly come up in their fights and Blaise doesn't get involved either." Hermione whispered.

"Don't worry about it." Vergil stated.

Snape walked in, all conversations were cut off at once.

* * *

 _ **And that's it. Short… I know…**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **RedHood001 – Not with darkness, that much I can tell you. While it would be cool I've got something else in mind.**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thank you.**_

 _ **Guest – Well, I guess this chapter had a moment between them.**_

 _ **Concrete63 – Thank you for leaving a review.**_

 _ **DarkShadow124 – Oh he will, that much I can assure you. I really love the third book, I would not dare skip out on letting Vergil get involved.**_

 _ **i lovedifferentmixesup – Thank you.**_

 _ **Guest – I'm glad to hear that.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Powerless Creature**_


	21. Powerless Creature

_**Chapter 21 – Powerless Creature**_

* * *

Vergil and Hermione sat in the library; they finally completed the list of everything they managed to find that could help Hagrid defend his Hippogriff. And just in time, they had less than a week left before the trial.

"What do you think? Will this be enough?" Hermione asked, heavy sigh told her the answer before Vergil even uttered a single word.

He knew she wanted him to be positive, optimistic about the trial. But that was against his nature. "No. Without a solid witness capable of standing up for the Hippogriff… without someone to stand up and take the blame there's nothing we can do."

"We've gathered facts, examples; that ought to be worth something." Hermione huffed as she glared at the papers as if doing so would make their chances higher.

"And we're up against Draco's father. No one would believe us if we said Draco did in fact provoke the creature. I could take the blame, but Snape won't let me interfere directly. Everything I did for this…" He motioned at the small stack of papers. "…the help I offered you, it was all selfish desire to believe in a false hope that something can be done. I merely washed my hands off the responsibility for its death."

True, had it not been for Hermione working herself to near complete exhaustion he would have stopped searching a month ago. With her there he couldn't find it in himself to leave her to work on her own.

"You could show some empathy." There was a bit of anger at his mostly uncaring attitude. A bit of annoyance as well, because he so calmly accepted something she wouldn't dare think.

"I often lack that peculiar emotion." His eye was closed, his voice was even and she wouldn't dare say he lacked honesty in what he just stated.

"Peculiar?!" Hermione was losing her patience with him here. How he could spend hours with her, trying to help and not care that much for Buckbeak's fate.

"Yes. I can't wrap my mind around the arrogance of humans who appear to believe they can understand what another person is going through." Humans… He often used that word, as if it didn't include him, as if he didn't associate himself with the rest of the human kind.

"It's not arrogance; it is the sign of support. Showing someone that despite what happened to them they are not alone." Hermione countered. She was still somewhat exhausted by her schedule but with occasional massage from the Slytherin occupying the chair next to her she found herself having a bit more energy for occasional disagreement with Vergil. Something moderately similar to bickering over small things, yet refreshing as it required some use of brains.

"Appropriate actions would be to show care and support, not faked understanding." Vergil smirked; he enjoyed this, countering her human logic with his devil nature was both fun and productive. He was learning more about humans when by her side.

"You are going for a less personal approach. Understanding how someone feels is a key to helping them properly and for that you need to feel empathy." Hermione pointed out.

"Define properly." Vergil requested. The red eye opened and he looked at the girl that had been looking at him ever since the conversation started.

"Well say you figure out a way to help someone, but you don't understand them. What if your solution hurts them emotionally?" Hermione made a simple example.

"Then they need to suck it up. Emotions are a hindrance; you do what you have to succeed." His eye was cold.

To Hermione the way he said it, it didn't feel human. Humans shouldn't be like this, this set on their goal and ready to throw emotions aside. "You don't truly believe that, do you?"

"I'm not heartless, but if I need to, I will be. That's the way I've been taught." Cold, calculated voice.

By whom, by what monster was he taught if this is what he is saying? Brown eyes desperately searched for something in that cold red eye that would tell her he was merely joking.

"Even if it's someone's life that's at stake?" Hermione asked, dreading the response.

"If that life is threatening what is important to me." Red clashed with brown. Years would pass before she would understand what it is that's important to the red-eyed boy.

* * *

Seeing as months passed since Black last attacked many were caught by surprise when he suddenly attempted to commit a murder again.

"You hear that? He got the wrong bed and nearly killed Weasley." Draco said as the usual group of him, Blaise, Vergil and the physically present Crabbe and Goyle sat in the common room.

"So he ran for it?" Blaise assumed.

"That's what Weasley's been saying. I would personally thank him if he got either of the two." Draco smirked.

"No you wouldn't be. That's a life Draco, no one should be happy about anyone getting murdered." Vergil stated, empathetic as he was he had a few rules that were set in stone, one of those being that no one deserves to die without a proper chance to defend. "You don't even understand the gravity of what you just said."

"Don't tell me you are worried about them?" Draco sounded stunned and even a bit angry.

Blaise snorted. "Vergil? Worried? Like that can happen."

"He's got a point." Vergil agreed with a smirk. "Still that Black… there's something suspicious about all of this." He gained a thoughtful look on his face. "Nearly half a year passed between two break ins. Potter is most vulnerable when the rest of the students are at Hogsmeade, hell some of the teachers are absent as well. If he can break in while the school is full he certainly can when there are less people around. Getting the wrong bed sounds believable, but if he killed Weasley and ran away he would most certainly set Potter on a path of revenge. Potter would, regardless of what anyone would say to him go to Black on his own." Vergil explained his opinion on the matter. "We're missing some kind of information, something isn't right here…"

* * *

Whether something was wrong wasn't important at the moment though. The security in the school was nearly suffocating with all the patrols and what not, at least to Vergil. Weasley also became a celebrity, something the boy probably needed for his self-esteem. Either way while all of this was going on it turned out Neville losing the paper with passwords written on it was responsible for Black being able to enter Gryffindor common room.

Neville eventually, after all the punishment he received from school, got a Howler from his grandmother. That was something that caused most of the Slytherins to laugh.

"I'm off to the library; I've got a Transfiguration homework that refuses to get finished on its own." Vergil stood up from his seat and stretched a bit.

He passed through the mostly empty corridors; most people were reading mails back in the Great Hall. Vergil had never received a letter, so there really wasn't much of a reason for him to stay there. He entered the library, about an hour before his first class and noticed Hermione was there as well.

"Morning." He greeted her and sat down; it was also a bit of their ritual to meet up in the library every now and then.

"Hey." Hermione no longer jumped when he greeted her like she did the first couple of times, now she greeted him back just like she did right now. At times that 'hey' was accompanied with a smile. Not today though, in fact she had been crying recently.

"Black's break in really got to you, right?" Vergil asked.

"He could have killed Ron." She nearly burst into tears again.

Vergil was having a mixture of emotions at the moment. He had to hand it to the girl, she really did take her friendship seriously; even while Weasley was refusing to talk to her she was still distraught by him nearly getting killed. On the other hand she was so stressed out that it was too easy to get her to cry, he suspected that's what she did most of the time when she wasn't overworking herself.

"He didn't. That's all that matters." Probably not the most sympathetic thing to say. But there really wasn't much else he could think of to say to her.

* * *

Visits to Hogsmeade didn't exactly interest Vergil that much; so when Snape told him he would skip the visit this time he was completely fine with it. So that's how Vergil ended up in Snape's office while most of the other students were at Hogsmeade.

"Is there a specific reason for you calling me here?" Vergil asked as he sat on the chair in the office.

"Regarding your interest in, studying the Dark Arts…" Vergil immediately sat up straight. "Calm down." Snape berated him. "You need to be able to protect yourself, in case someone, decides to question you." Snape stopped, almost as if urging Vergil to state his opinion on what needed to be remedied.

"There is Veritaserum. In the end there might not be much I can do." Vergil pointed out.

"Obviously. However, there is a way to defend against, the Veritaserum and any intrusion, in your mind done via, **Legilimency**." Snape's statement both surprised and confused Vergil.

" **Legilimency**?"

"The act of magically navigating, through the many layers of a person's mind, thoughts, emotions, memories, a Legilimens can do this, as well as detect a lie and influence the mind." Snape explained, giving Vergil the core knowledge of the particularly dangerous magic.

"And you are going to teach me how to defend, against that?" Vergil asked, the fact that one could defend from Veritaserum was already surprising; the fact that something like **Legilimency** could be performed was shocking; the fact that it could be blocked was astonishing.

"Occlumency, the act of magically closing one's mind. It can prevent Legilimens from accessing the mind. As a more advanced Occlumens it will be possible, to suppress only specific thoughts, emotions, and memories. It requires a great deal of willpower, high degree of mental and emotional discipline." With the basic explanations out of the way Snape looked into the red eye, the boy seemed completely willing to give this a try. "Normally, it would be too early for you to learn how to use Occlumency, yet given your, intentions; it would be wise to do so."

"I'm all for it." Vergil agreed and took off the bandages, the right red eye opened.

"I will now try to penetrate your mind, you will attempt to resist. Empty your emotions, control your mind." Snape's voice gave him direct instructions. He raised his wand, beckoning Vergil to do the same. "On count of three, one, two, three… **Legilimens**!"

Suddenly Vergil felt as if his life was flashing in front of his eyes, blinding him from the surrounding.

He was four years old, just about to turn five in a few days, walking through the simple, metal covered, corridor with a nine years old Xenia, the white haired girl smiled at him. All he could see was the mixture of red and black, all he could hear was Xenia's scream and then there was nothing. The image shifted to a grass field by the river, the red sky was bright. He was six years old, with Grom by his side. Image shifted yet again. This time to him and Grom on that same field, only two years later. "It's yours to control." Grom's words echoed as he tried to suppress his fear of lightning. "Don't close your eyes! Vergil!"

"I won't…" Vergil greeted his teeth and with a battle cry forced Snape outside of his mind. "…close my eyes…" He found himself on his knees, on the floor, covered in sweat and panting. The brief reminder of the day Grom taught him how to use electricity helped him. He already had to learn how to control himself, he already had to throw his emotions away and keep them at bay. He could do this.

"Who was that girl?" Snape asked. He already guessed that the black haired devil was Vergil's mentor.

"Xenia, my older sister." There was a strange sense of longing in Vergil's voice, not close to the longing he felt when Grom was concerned but it was there. "Can we try again?" He asked.

The response was Snape raising his wand. "Get ready. **Legilimens**."

* * *

Just as Vergil finished putting back his bandage they heard a knocking. "Sir, may I enter?" It was Draco and he sounded frantic.

"I'll go take a rest." Vergil said and opened the doors for Draco.

"Vergil?" Draco clearly noticed the state of exhaustion Vergil was in if the sound of concern was anything to go by.

"I'm fine. See you later." Vergil brushed it off and headed back to the Slytherin common room.

* * *

The tension between Slytherin and Gryffindor was silly but mostly understandable to Vergil. The two houses had quite a rivalry, heck it was like two polar opposites. Silver and gold; green and red; serpent and lion. Yeah, the relationship between the two houses was strained to say the least. Meaning that Vergil, waiting by the lake for Hermione, was highly unusual as far as their allegiance to the houses was concerned.

She finally showed up, carrying her cat, Crookshanks, in her arms. "Sorry I'm late, Muggle Studies essay." Hermione explained her reasons for being late roughly ten minutes.

"Don't worry about it." Vergil looked at her and then at her cat. "So that's Crookshanks."

"Yes. Isn't he gorgeous?" Despite the troubles the lion-like cat had given her Hermione was extremely fond of it.

Well, the minimal similarity to a small tiger was a very big plus in Vergil's book. "He is." He grinned. Though he didn't have high expectations when it came to this relationship, after all Crookshanks was an animal.

Hermione smiled and sat down next to him, she let go of Crookshanks.

He was a half-kneazle.

A cat that put his paws on Vergil's leg.

They were bound to be mortal enemies.

So why the hell did the cat decide to lie on his lap?!

"This is a new one. Animals usually hate me." Vergil muttered as he looked incredulously at Crookshanks. "Do I pet him?"

Hermione giggled. "Of course you do." She told him; secretly she found his reactions to contact of this kind to be adoring.

Slowly Vergil ran his palm over Crookshanks' back making the cat purr. "See, he likes you." Hermione encouraged him to continue his interaction with her pet.

"So, my newfound cat buddy aside, to what do I owe this little get together you requested?" Vergil cut to the point.

Hermione sighed. "I just felt like talking to someone." She admitted.

"You are speaking to Potter and Weasley again and yet you come to talk to me?" He didn't mind and she probably, possibly, knew this.

"Well, you're, I mean, if it bothers you I can leave." Hermione suggested, seeing as Vergil was right and that she was indeed speaking to her friends again it did seem off to pick Vergil as the one she turned to talk to.

"It doesn't bother me; it just makes me somewhat curious. You didn't finish though, what am I?" Vergil asked as he scratched Crookshanks behind the ear gently.

"Uh-" She didn't seem sure.

"Back up living diary?" Vergil suggested.

"That's not right. You're my friend." Hermione glared at him, seeing the smirk on his face only added fuel to the determination. "Wait what do you mean 'living diary'?"

"Nothing important. And what did you want to talk about?"

"So many things happened lately. Buckbeak will most likely be executed; I slapped that foul loathsome evil little cockroach-" Vergil burst out laughing at that.

"Draco? Oh you can't imagine how much I've heard about that." It was the first time Hermione heard him laugh and he certainly needed about half a minute to stop chuckling at the insult she threw at Draco. "Foul loathsome evil little cockroach. Brilliant." He had to admit.

"You're not mad? Draco is your best friend, you said it yourself." Hermione pointed out.

"Oh, he is. That doesn't mean I don't know he does deserve a good slap every now and then. Plus it's a slap, there's no lasting damage. Don't misinterpret this though, if you hexed or jinxed him I wouldn't be laughing." He looked her straight in the eyes. "He is-" He stressed 'is' heavily. "-my best friend." What he left out was a simple fact about him; he tends to get protective, extremely so perhaps, over those he cares about. "Either way, you were saying?"

Hermione paused, taking in his words; she knew Vergil was willing to go far for Draco. Taking Buckbeak's claws instead of Draco was enough of a proof. "And I finally had it with Professor Trelawney. Honestly, 'the fates have informed her'? She is the one who sets the exam! Then the ridiculous Grim again. And my mind is mundane?!" She really stressed 'my' as she exclaimed that. In her rant about Divination professor she failed to notice Vergil stopped petting Crookshanks and completely turned his attention to her. "And I just left, I'm giving up Divination!"

"That's a good choice." Vergil assured her. "It's something you don't enjoy, find ridiculous and it clearly isn't helping you improve. Plus wasting time being taught by someone who is blind to the point of calling you of all people mundane; just for not being able to see the almighty importance of reading the tea leaves is pointless." He was being supportive, not exactly regular occurrence.

She knew it and because of that, his words held more meaning.

"Ron and Harry are finally helping me out; we'll try to help Buckbeak." She informed him.

" _Yeah, a living diary._ " Vergil shook his head slightly. "I'm not getting involved, you're no longer on your own."

Reluctantly the girl nodded, accepting his decision, the two continued sitting by the lake for a bit longer before returning to the castle.

* * *

 _ **And that's it. Two or three chapters to go and we'll wrap up the Prisoner of Azkaban.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **TheLoneHero17 – Thank you for the review, I'll do my best.**_

 _ **RedHood001 – I completely agree on that. And under Snape's tutelage he won't be just 'You-Know-Who-Incarnate'. So Vergil getting attention from the Death Eaters is inevitable.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you. Glad you did.**_

 _ **Bobby Guerrero – Thank you, I'm happy to hear that.**_

 _ **Anime PJ – Thank you for the review. Yeah, Ron's overall treatment of Hermione and attitude in some of the situations is the reason why Ron isn't exactly my favorite character in the series; I don't think I'm bashing him and I'm certainly not intending to do so though, but yeah, I don't exactly like him either. Both of the actions Vergil took in the last chapter felt like something he'd do, despite his overall attitude, so yeah, glad you liked them.**_

 _ **Josephguy217 – Thank you, I'll keep doing my best.**_

 _ **Bajor10 – Thank you, the scene with Nott will have some importance later on, how big, I can't tell you. Well, I guess they won't be too friendly to one another, Vergil and Ron.**_

 _ **Brit – Thank you, he is slowly getting there, that's for sure.**_

 _ **Guest – No problem, thank you for the review.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Day Of Execution**_


	22. Day Of Execution

_**Chapter 22 – Day Of Execution**_

* * *

June was approaching and so were exams; the days became cloudless and sultry. Vergil hated it, he always hated hot weather, the constant sunshine and lack of storms. For any kind of demon being in the area that offered them a natural recharge automatically became a perfect habitat to live in. For Vergil it would primarily be a place with lots of storms and he preferred some shelter from Sun, being the darkness devil and all that.

All in all, cambion was a bit cranky due to the weather. Luckily for him other students brushed it off as annoyance at being stuck in the castle studying when they could just go and laze around. They were completely wrong; Vergil actually preferred staying inside while the weather was like this.

The exams began, Transfiguration, Herbology, then Potions. He found the potions exam to be ridiculously easy for him. A simple Confusing Concoction, he had done it dozens of times by now. All in all the exams ended successfully, leaving only the Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Lupin decided to take a completely practical approach and so Vergil and his fellow classmates found themselves outside.

Vergil began paddling across the pool containing a grindylow, the sickly green water demon… Being the demon that it was it felt Vergil's nature, the devil blood that coursed through his veins. It felt the presence of a superior kind of demon. For a few agonizing moments Vergil thought It would back away without trying anything, that the behavior would cause suspicion to rise even higher among the staff. Luckily the grindylow grabbed onto his paddle.

Vergil pulled out his wand and pointed it at the hands holding his paddle. " **Relashio**!" With a simple jinx the water demon let go, partly because of the spell, partly because of the identity of the caster.

One obstacle down, three to go. Crossing a series of potholes full of red caps, easy, he was a combatant to begin with, there was no way a few creatures could take him down that easily. **Verdimillious** to the chest o the first one to attempt attacking, making a quick combo between **Flipendo** and **Verdimillious** and grinning at the last remaining opponent.

" **Steleus**." He cast the jinx that caused the red cap to start sneezing as he walked right by it.

Ignoring hinkypunk that tried to mislead it was about as easy as it gets and he finally reached the old trunk with the boggart.

He entered and saw Acharon and Apolion, once again in their demon forms. "Riddikulus." The scene, quite similar to the one he presented the first time he faced the boggart repeated. He stepped outside, smirking confidently.

"Excellent Vergil, full mark." Lupin praised him.

* * *

Sixth of June, hippogriff's execution. At sunset, hidden by the soon to come darkness and the shadow of the tree he stood beneath Vergil observed. A bit more than a hundred meters away from Hagrid's hut he could watch the creature. It deserved that much and so he had decided not to avert his eye from the beheading that was about to be done.

Hippogriff, despite belief of a certain amount of students wasn't so innocent. Yes, it was a wild creature, but it had been brought to a class. Some safety measures had to be made, which was something Hagrid heavily lacked. Even Vergil, who didn't exactly talk to the man, figured he didn't exactly have a grasp on how dangerous some of the creatures are.

Those talons were dangerous, the cambion experienced just how much himself, and it could have been anyone. Hell, it should have been Draco. The wounds he received from the Hippogriff would have caused a considerate amount of bleeding to anyone and humans weren't as resistant to blood loss as devils, especially thirteen year olds.

All in all Vergil did believe that the Hippogriff wasn't innocent, thus he found no need to interfere with the natural consequences. His eye widened, mere moments after Fudge, Dumbledore and executioner entered Hagrid's hut he saw a person approaching the hippogriff.

" _Potter?_ " Vergil deduced, it was a male, his age, with black hair and Potter was pretty much the only option. He was the only one with a reason to help the hippogriff. "That absolute idiot." Vergil facepalmed, of all the asinine things Potter could do it just had to be something that would endanger him. Black was still on the loose was the Gryffindor begging for trouble?! And knowing the way things were Hermione was most likely, scratch that, absolutely involved in this one way or another.

Vergil watched, there was no way they would make it in time. "I'll regret this." Vergil sighed and raised his palm. The concentration of dark energy emerged around his forearm, merged into a simple orb of pure darkness. He took a step back, closer to the tree, secluding himself deeper into the shadow and threw the orb. He directed it to the front yard of Hagrid's hut, near the window where it would direct the attention of those inside away from the pumpkin patch where hippogriff was.

It was a decent success as it delayed the executioner by about half a minute and made hippogriff move a tiny bit faster. Potter did it and covered by the darkness no one would ever know Vergil was even there.

The ruby red glow of the sky on the west was a sight to behold, a sight that was now accompanied by a sound of a swish and thud of an axe as executioner slammed it into the fence.

* * *

Vergil rolled in his bed, from one side to another. He had no way of being sure Hermione would return safely. Freeing the hippogriff was a risky move, if they got caught… Perhaps not even Potter's fame could help him. Where will they even hide it? The red eye narrowed, he had to make sure she did return to the castle. Jumping to his feet Vergil bolted through the corridors, making sure no one noticed, it still wasn't too late, maybe he'd catch some Gryffindor still outside.

He did find the entrance to the Gryffindor common room; not exactly a hard task considering it still had trolls guarding it. He didn't know password, meaning this was useless unless someone miraculously came outside, or wanted to get inside…

As per usual, Vergil's luck left a lot to be desired, he was about as lucky as a cat left to fend for itself on the ocean.

" _I really need to find a way to track humans._ " Vergil took a deep breath and ran through the darkness clad hallways, waiting wasn't getting him anywhere, he needed to search. " _And where exactly do I start searching…?_ " The frustration was building up inside of him, no clues, nothing to track, absolutely no idea where Hermione might be. Terrific.

Taking a few more deep breaths to clear his mind he began thinking. Perhaps going back to where he last saw Potter was the best idea, maybe try and find hippogriff's footprints, if they wanted to hide him they certainly wouldn't start flying right away. So he began walking forward, extremely thankful for being a darkness devil, his vision during the night was quite good because of that.

* * *

Hermione couldn't believe what had happened tonight. Between Buckbeak's execution; Ron being bitten by Black; her, Harry and Ron attacking Snape and finding out that Scabbers was actually Peter Pettigrew frankly she just wanted the night to end. They were bound to get in trouble, if for nothing else than for attacking Snape but she honestly hoped that would wait until the morning. Plus she was in pain which only added to worsen the situation, sure she wasn't even remotely as hurt as Ron but pain was pain.

"Looks like following the blood did work." She heard a very familiar voice. Hermione's eyes widened as she looked ahead of them, even with the lack of light she recognized him. Vergil. She quickly turned toward Snape, the moment Vergil notices his Head of the House…

"Vergil? What are you doing here?" Professor Lupin questioned him.

"Taking a walk. Apparently it's a rather popular thing to do these days." Vergil remarked, his eye scanning the group. When he abruptly froze Hermione knew what happened, he saw Snape. "Who was it?" He was angry, absolutely furious, even more angry than last year when she called herself Mudblood while looking like him.

"Vergil please-" She was about to go to him, this had to be resolved properly.

"What's it matter? Snivellus should finally learn not to stick his massive nose into other people's business." Sirius spat, just when Hermione was about to try and reason with the Slytherin. Considering Vergil's relationship with Snape that went out of the window.

Oh, and a wand directed right at Sirius was pretty big giveaway.

"Is that so?" His voice was steady, cold. Tranquil fury… She felt a pressure, something that wasn't in any way similar to human, something demonic as she looked into the red eye.

"Boy, please! Please help me! They are going to kill me and Severus!" Just when things seemed like they couldn't get worse. Pettigrew called out to Vergil, begged for help from the Slytherin. Vergil turned around to face the man.

No. He couldn't possibly believe Pettigrew. He couldn't possibly turn against them.

"Vergil you need to listen." Professor Lupin didn't move his wand away from Pettigrew, but he was trying to reason with Vergil.

"I'll listen. To a criminal? A werewolf? A complete stranger? People I don't trust? Yeah, I'll listen." Vergil growled, but he wouldn't hurt her.

With that shaky reassurance Hermione approached him, reached out and gripped his left forearm. "Please listen." She pleaded and he turned around, slowly, cautiously, but he did. She maintained the eye contact.

"Hermione no! Get away from him!" She heard Ron yelling at her and Harry was probably gripping his wand. Yet Vergil's hardened gaze went lower, to her wounded shoulder, than up to her lip where the small traces of blood still remained. He wouldn't hurt her, now she was sure of it.

"Go ahead, give me one good reason." Vergil said, sounding calmer, more willing to listen and let this go.

"I… I wasn't sure what else to do, everything was just… hectic…" Hermione took the blame for Harry and Ron as well; there was nothing that would guarantee that he wouldn't lash out on the two of them.

* * *

Hidden behind the trees a shadow of a man with golden eyes observed the scene. Shadow smirked, revealing sharp teeth. "Kaiser's son." The smirk widened, for a brief moment a tongue slid over the lower lip of the golden-eyed shadow.

* * *

Vergil wasn't sure what to do. Hermione just told him that she, in one way or another was responsible for Snape's state. Of all people it had to be her. Of all people here it had to be the one he didn't want to hurt.

Even clouds shifting and full Moon coming into view didn't immediately raise red flags in his mind, why would they. Lupin took his potion, right?

Apparently, he did not.

Lupin had gone rigid, his limbs were shaking…

"Oh, my-" Hermione gasped making Vergil turn around, the realization hit him like a Hogwarts Express. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!" She worded what he realized.

"Lady Luck sure likes to take vacation when you need her." Vergil hissed he had a good reason to as well; Weasley and whoever the other man was were chained to Lupin. Weasley was coincidentally injured… "Terrific." He thought as he made the decision, Grom would turn in his grave if Vergil even thought about just letting someone defenseless get killed.

"RUN!" He heard Black yell at Hermione and Potter, but that was the least of his worries.

Snarling filled the cambion's ears as Lupin's head and body lengthened, his shoulders were hunched and hair sprouted on his face and hairs that curled into clawed paws. Crookshanks was backing away and the time was ticking.

His brain found the spell needed in seconds, the years of battles strengthened his instinct. " **Relashio**." Vergil pointed his wand at the chains tying Weasley and the other man to Lupin. Behind him he heard Hermione sighing in pure relief.

Just when Vergil thought nothing could surprise him he saw an enormous, bearlike dog bouncing past him and right at the werewolf's neck; thus pulling it away from the other two.

The battle was fierce to say the least, the dog and the werewolf were exchanging the animalistic blows, claw for claw, bite for bite. The dog couldn't back down; else Lupin would go after one of them.

Hermione screamed; making Vergil and Potter turn their attention from the fight to the remaining adult, the man chained to Weasley dived for Lupin's wand. Weasley fell, a burst of light hit him and he lied on the ground, motionless.

" **Verdimillious**!" Vergil countered a blast directed at Crookshanks with a shot of green sparks, surprisingly mixed with electric blue ones.

" **Expelliarmus**!" Potter yelled, disarming the wizard barely a moment later; maybe, just maybe the boys with so many opposites between one another could work as a good team. If only the differences were to be put aside. "Stay where you are!" Potter shouted and ran forward.

He was too late though, the wizard transformed into a rat.

"What in the world…?" Vergil muttered, he regained his composure and pointed his wand at the area the rat was running through. " **Glacius**." The area froze, slowing the rat down just enough for Crookshanks to corner it and Vergil to leap forward and catch it. Hermione and Potter watched him as he petted Crookshanks on the head. "Smart cat." He grinned at the feline. The moment he looked away and looked at the squeaking rat the grin faded. "I want some answers and you aren't going anywhere until I get them." The killing intent that slipped through was evident even to the two behind him, let alone the rat.

"Leonidas, keep a hold on Pettigrew." Potter told him as he and Hermione went to check on Weasley.

And then, just like months ago when he first went to Hogsmeade he felt a presence, different from the one back then but definitely that of a devil. It was only a moment, a moment that made him halt and weaken his grip on the rat. A moment of distraction that allowed Pettigrew to bite into Vergil's hand, transform back into his human form thus pushing the cambion away.

The presence was gone and Vergil's eye widened as he swung his fist at Pettigrew, the man wasn't completely stupid though, he swept the dirt off the road and right into Vergil's eye.

"You damn…!" Vergil backed away, covering his eye on pure reflex. Pettigrew didn't have a wand, but he didn't need one, the presence of a devil made Crookshanks hiss and back away behind Vergil. Vergil was no longer a threat and neither was anyone else. He reverted to being a rat and escaped.

The only moderately good thing that happened so far was Lupin galloping into the forest. Well that was also dangerous because someone could run into him, at the moment though, Vergil didn't care.

"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Potter shouted and for the first time Vergil took a good look at the bearlike dog, Black was bleeding; the gashes covered his muzzle and back. At Potter's words he stood back up and with a resolve rarely seen disappeared into the woods. He was trying to find Pettigrew again, with devil potentially lurking somewhere Vergil doubted that was a smart move. However there was no way for Black to know about the devil in the woods. Not even Vergil, who could sense devils, was sure the devil was still near them. The presence had disappeared just like it appeared, abruptly, with no explanation.

"What did he do to him?" Vergil heard Hermione's worried whisper as she watched over Weasley.

"I don't know..." Potter replied as Vergil opened his eye, his vision was still somewhat blurry but it was getting better. Cambion looked at Snape; the Potions master was still hanging in midair, unconscious.

A dog yelping, whining in pain made it clear that the night was far from over.

"Sirius." Potter muttered, staring into the darkness, he stopped for a moment and then began running.

Hermione looked at him, their eyes met, just for a moment. Her soft brown eyes clashing with his cold blood red eye. There was no time, she ran after Potter with Crookshanks right by her side.

Vergil sighed as he was left on his own, with unconscious Snape and Weasley; he lowered Snape's body to the ground. "The hell is going on here?" He asked no one in particular. He must have made a mistake, the presence of a devil just appeared and disappeared, honestly, the white haired boy had no idea on what to do.

And then there was the way she looked at him, pleading for him to come along with those brown eyes of hers. He felt guilty for not going with her, a sense of déjà vu unsettled him. The feeling that he would once again regret the way he acted. With that in mind he stood up and ran after Hermione.

And then there it was again, the devil presence. This time it didn't disappear, it was clear as day and he was heading straight toward it. "Damn it all…!" He began sprinting as quickly as he could; now cursing more than ever not going with Hermione. "Just let me make it in time!"

* * *

 _ **And that's it. One more chapter and that's it for the third book.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thank you.**_

 _ **Guest – Glad to hear.**_

 _ **RedHood001 – Yeah, the little that's left of his somewhat innocent side. Well, it wouldn't be a rule if there wasn't an exception, Crookshanks is that exception for Vergil. I have to admit it might be growing quicker than I anticipated, but I'm glad it's working so far. As for Harry, he'll notice that I can tell you.**_

 _ **Guest – Thanks, I'm glad to hear that.**_

 _ **Brit – Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying this.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Vajra**_


	23. Vajra

_**Chapter 23 – Vajra**_

* * *

Devils, the cruelest race of demons; the consciousness that allowed them to commit atrocities proved that. Devils despising battles and violence do exist, but the one slowly moving closer to unconscious humans was not the one of those. He left the shadows of the forest, emerged on the clearing, his golden eyes glistened at the sight in front of him.

Such defenseless creatures…

The girl… she would be the first to die…

The devil approached, his massive form intimidating to Crookshanks, the only one conscious of the group. The cat hissed, causing a sick smile to spread across the devil's face, the sharp teeth bared for him to see. Try to appear bigger than he was all he wanted, Crookshanks was no match for a seven feet tall devil that probably weighted over two hundred and fifty pounds, most of which was probably a muscle mass. Tribal crocodile head tattoo covering the right side of his bald head wasn't doing much to make him look friendlier.

"Come on now, I just want to kill." Devil mocked him, the amused tone of the voice both frustrating and frightening.

" **Lacarnum Inflamarae**." A slightly breathless command indicated the ball of fire that burst forward and hit the devil right on the head. "Consider that a warning."

"This? A warning?" Devil mocked as flames died out, not even a singe on his skin. He did look to the side, smirking. "Don't disappoint me now. You can do better than that." His golden eyes clashed with Vergil red eyes.

Vergil felt a bead of sweat slide down his cheek; on the outside he looked moderately confident. He had taken the bandage off to get rid of the blind spot but that was about all he could do. Gripping his wand he did feel relief over making it in time. How much he could do against this devil was probably not going to be enough, but he hoped to buy some time. Just time, that's all he needed to make sure Hermione was safe, Potter and Black came as a 'whatever' bonus.

"What gives you that impression? Mr. Devil?" Vergil smirked as he confidently walked into the clearing. Perhaps it was a stupid thing to do, but he needed to get closer.

"Heh." Large devil snorted at that, twenty feet, fifteen feet, twelve feet…

…right there.

Abruptly the devil turned, Crookshanks jumped back on an instinct as a massive fist punched the air right next to Vergil's head.

"That look, for example." Devil commented as he looked at the boy that didn't move an inch from his spot. "Good instincts." He had to give praise when he felt it was deserved. "Join us."

Vergil's eyes widened for a friction of a second. "And how many make up that 'us' of yours. **Glacius**."

Devil didn't react to the ground being frozen just behind his feet; it was as if the two were playing a game with one another, wondering which one would react first.

"Devils? I lost count." A swing of the fist being evaded by merely shifting backwards a bit amused him.

"Because of the numbers or lack of brain cells?" Vergil provoked deliberately.

An eyebrow twitched in mild irritation. "You've got some nerve."

Vergil smirked. "I do. **Everte Statum**!" Normally, the spell should have thrown the target back, but this was a devil going up against a boy. It merely pushed him back.

"Did you think it would wo-" The golden eyes widened as the devil stepped on the ice. He lost balance, just enough to slip slightly. Caught off guard, humiliated by a mere child… child that dropped down and swept him off his feet.

"Obviously. **Flipendo**." The spell hit the devil's jaw finally bringing him down on the ice. " **Aguamenti**." Jet of water soaked his opponent and Vergil pressed the tip of his wand against the ice. " **Verdimillious**." The green sparks infused with his devil powers sent shocks through the devil's body.

Devil gritted his teeth, growled as he set free sort of a shockwave; one that forced Vergil backed and shattered the ice. Vergil fell down and rolled to the side, away from the trio. He raised his wand as quickly as he could; devil's attention had to remain on him, solely on him. " **Immobulus**."

Devil narrowly evaded the spell, smirking he produced green liquid on his palm. He swept his arm toward Vergil, sending whatever the liquid was right at him.

" **Ascendio**." Cambion felt the spell lifting him high into the air.

"You do realize you're open!" Devil taunted him, the green liquid began dissolving anything it came into contact with as evident by the grass it landed on.

While still in air Vergil retaliated. " **Fumos**." On Vergil's command a dark grey cloud of smoke came to his defense. " **Carpe Retractum**." A rope produced from his wand wrapped itself around devil's right forearm and pulled him toward Vergil just as the boy began falling below the smoke. Devil smirked, freeing himself just as he reached Vergil. He raised his knee and slammed it against Vergil's abdomen.

Vergil spat out blood at the sudden impact. "F- **Flipendo**." He breathed out, sending his opponent above the smoke. " **Lacarnum Inflamarae**." He quickly sent a ball of flames into the smoke and smirked. Electricity emerged around his hand, traveling after the flames and causing somewhat of a delayed flashover, an explosion of smoke.

Upon landing Vergil fell to his knees, finding it hard to regain his composure. He was pretty much out of breath, his heart drummed against his chest at a breakneck speed.

"You've got a potential. I'll offer you once more, join us." Devil said, he still looked unfazed by everything Vergil did. In fact he just brushed the explosion as if it was nothing. His defense was even better than his offense.

"You sure are straight to the point. Not even introduction and you're already making invitations." Vergil pushed himself back to his feet. Time, he needed to buy time.

"Deinos. Now, back to my offer." He offered Vergil his hand. "The likes of us have no need for humans."

"You're entitled to your opinion. We disagree, the end of discussion." Vergil said without thinking, he let his straight forwardness get the better of his reasoning.

"Well then, that's regretful." Deinos began his advance, his target clearly Hermione, Potter and Black, all of whom were still unconscious. Crookshanks hissed but slowly backed away.

" **Diffindo**!" The charm hit Deinos right on, it should have done some damage, but there was nothing, not even a scratch on the left forearm he used to block the spell.

"No good, boy, there's nothing you can do to even scratch me, let alone protect humans." Deinos taunted him, mocked him with the slow approach, approach that clearly sent the message, 'You cannot stop me'.

Vergil gritted his teeth, his eye narrowed on the devil. No matter how one looked at the situation Vergil was at a disadvantage, the devil was much heavier and much taller than him, he was physically weaker and nothing he did had a lasting effect…

Deinos suddenly seemed like he changed his mind. Vergil felt it before he even saw it, a mass of acidic green energy forming a spear. Deinos threw it, but not at Vergil, the spear was thrown right at Hermione.

Electric blue flash bolted right by now smirking devil. He looked directly into the narrowed red eyes, play time was over. The pole sizzled, burning into Vergil's left palm; he glared at the offending weapon before throwing it into a nearby tree. The spear dissolved into green mass and continued damaging the tree it previously pierced through.

"She's unconscious." Vergil growled, much to Deinos' amazement a handful of sparks burst around him, circled him and disappeared as he let his anger out.

"What difference does it make?" His question was never answered, lightning flashed right in front of him signaling Vergil's approach. He barely blocked the knee directed at his jaw. " _He's fast…!_ " Deinos pushed Vergil back and swung his other fist at him.

"Too slow." The white haired Slytherin evaded the punch and moved to Deinos' left. Darkness engulfed his leg and he landed a roundhouse kick to the devil's back.

"And you're too weak." Deinos smirked; even now Vergil's attacks lacked power needed to injure him.

"Then we're at a stalemate." Vergil returned the smirk as he dodged Deinos' continuous attempts to land a hit.

"Stand still…!" Devil grew frustrated, blasted his surrounding with another shockwave and rushed forward to punch the boy.

"That would be-" He jumped over the punch and formed a **Darkness Orb** in front of his palm. "-retarded!" The orb of darkness collided with the back of Deinos' head. " **Verdimillious**." He shot a spell at him, needing to preserve enough of his power to keep fighting.

Deinos spun around, stopping for a moment, the brat was right, as it was he didn't have the speed to go up against lightning devil and the boy didn't have strength needed to break through his defense. If the circumstances were any different the battle would truly be a stalemate. But there was one key factor, stamina.

At the same time Deinos realized it Vergil came to a similar conclusion. The shaking of his legs was enough of a giveaway. Without having a moment to take a breath he was forced to once again duck, jump away and dodge the attacks.

And then, a mistake.

Deinos' fist barely grazed him but it was enough to cause his vision to blacken just for a brief moment. He still tried to move away and in sudden movement he lost balance, the lack of stamina caught up to him and now, in the clutches of his enemy he was paying the price. Deinos' massive arms squeezed him around the chest, trapping both of his arms in the process as well and lifting him off the ground. The malicious chuckle faded into his sub consciousness, the only sound he was completely aware of was the sound of his ribs slowly cracking.

Deinos just kept smirking as Vergil spat out blood, not even that blood staining his shirt was enough to disturb him. Vergil couldn't scream; the pressure on his lungs so intense his body threatened to shut down completely. His mouth was open wide, in a silent scream of pain as the first rib cracked loudly.

The first crack was nearly immediately followed by two more. Blood trailed down Vergil's chin, his fingers twitched before his body stopped making any resistance.

The bald devil shifted slightly, moving his right hand and pressing it against Vergil's chest, lowering the left one just beneath the rib cage at the same time. He began pushing Vergil's chest back while trying to pull him closer to himself with his left arm.

Red eyes widened, he needed to react, he had to act and quickly. Like breathing again after nearly drowning he felt electricity bursting forth, discharging around him and pushing Deinos off. Vergil fell to the ground, on his hands and knees trying to fight off the pain coursing through him. His eyes flashed, the only remaining chance, he needed to act now. Backing away to the side he began gathering power, directing it to his right arm. He had time, the discharge of electricity that close and that sudden left Deinos dazed for a short period of time.

Deinos didn't exactly waste time, the moment he could he rushed forward; this had gone on for too long. The moment he finally looked at Vergil once again Deinos' eyes widened, his eyes… the sclera became completely red, his pupils were gone and his eyes were glowing. He was… half-awakened! For the first time Deinos truly felt the power of the lightning Vergil was producing, the blue lightning clad in a red mist so intense he couldn't see the boy's arm. He needed to dodge, as quickly as he could he began changing his direction, shifting to his right.

It was the moment Vergil was waiting for to blitz forward. " **VAJRA**!" He roared; shapeless mass of electricity collided with the left side of Deinos' body.

Dust and smoke settled as sparks coursed through the space between two fighters. A scream that would wake the dead resounded through the forest and a body fell down.

Vergil coughed up blood, unable to pick his body back up, he couldn't move. His sleeve was obliterated by the electricity; even his skin was slightly burnt. His breathing was heavy as he tried to keep his consciousness.

"You fucking…! My arm!" Deinos screamed his lungs out and he had a reason, as blood covered the ground, as smoke around him completely settled it was clear that **Vajra** did more than just electrify him and induce a brief paralysis. His left arm, along with a bit of his left side was gone, obliterated by the attack. "This isn't over- you've signed your death sentence…!" Deinos roared, furious that he was injured this badly by a mere child. He turned around, began walking toward Vergil. "Where's your speed now?!" The pain was still present in his voice as the blood trail left track of the path he walked.

Vergil tried, he really did but he couldn't even move an inch away from his spot. Even if he could move there was nothing he could do right now. " _Well, this isn't that bad of a way to die._ " He allowed himself a small smirk, dying at a hand of a devil after a battle. It really wasn't all that bad.

Deinos' sudden shout made him open his eyes once more.

Snape…

The potion master's wand was out confirming that he cursed the devil.

"Damn it… This isn't over brat!" Deinos growled as he began running away, for what reason, Vergil couldn't understand, perhaps he simply didn't want to keep fighting with that wound.

Cambion's vision was blurry as Snape walked up to him, the last vision he saw before his consciousness slipped away was the mixture of worry and anger in the man's eyes.

* * *

Severus Snape was livid with rage; first he got disarmed by three students, Potter and his friends to make matters worse. For some reason Vergil was outside of Hogwarts and, from what he gathered, got caught up in a battle with a devil. The little he did see made the result clear; Vergil would have been killed perhaps not even ten seconds later. But the fact that the devil's left arm was gone was enough to imply that the boy had enough power to truly kill someone. Regardless, if the disgrace caused by Potter and his friends followed by near death of his best student wasn't enough to set him in rage mode the fact that Black escaped alone would have done that.

He knew Potter had something to do with it thus he would under no circumstances stay in the same room as the spawn of James Potter.

The fact that said spawn was potentially, probably, the part of the reason Vergil was nearly killed wasn't helping Potter either.

Calming down slightly he thought about the flash of bright, warm electricity, without a doubt he knew it was a product of Vergil's attack. A fourteen years old cambion standing up and causing such injuries to a grown devil… Snape sighed, giving Vergil proper education was turning into a deadly bet. Nurturing him and developing his power could lead to either of the two scenarios; he either becomes an irreplaceable ally or nearly unstoppable enemy. There was no in-between with the boy.

* * *

Hermione lied awake in the hospital wing, she waited for both Harry and Ron to be asleep, not that it was hard to stay awake. She was exhausted, but her mind was too busy thinking about everything that happened to let her sleep.

Barely a minute after she and Buckbeak found Harry they saw a tall man they couldn't recognize approaching them and then everything went crazy. Despite the distance she and harry could see the Slytherin doing combinations of simple spells that should have been effective. Very effective even, but from what she could gather they were useless. Then the man somehow made a green spear and threw it at her, or her that was unconscious anyway.

That was when all reasoning was out of the window, whatever Vergil did was too advanced for their age; furthermore she never heard of anything like it. The brutal battle painted a different picture of the boy and she stood up, walking over to his bed. The bandages around his right arm were as prominent as the ones covering the right side of his face; Snape wrapped them before he even took them back to the castle…

"Were we-" She heard Harry speaking. "Saved…" It seemed hard for her best friend to say it. "by Leonidas?"

He joined her by the white haired boy's bed.

"You saw everything I did. He did save us." Hermione told him honestly. It surprised her, a Slytherin putting his life on the line like that. Wasn't Slytherin trait self-preservation? "What do you think that was? That electricity?"

"You don't know?" Harry was incredulous, downright thunderstruck at the fact that she didn't know something.

"I've never read about anything like it." And she read a lot. Her suspicion only grew every time Vergil did something that stepped outside the human bounds.

"He is being taught by Snape, maybe potions aren't all they are practicing." Harry offered an explanation that would suffice for the time being.

Hermione observed the unconscious Slytherin. She was perplexed by him, none the less she felt warmth as the smile crept up to her face. Because he caught it, that spear, because he ran after her. "You would be a good team." She pointed out.

Harry looked to the side and went back to his bed, too proud to admit it.

* * *

It took Vergil four days to finally wake up and recover enough to walk around. His body, exhausted from the battle, beaten by his enemy, broken by his own lightning. He experienced a complete blackout, using too much power too quickly, both for his soul and body to handle.

He was still tired, a bit disoriented as well; that probably didn't make this walk to the Great Hall to grab a bite, on his own, a smart idea. For a moment the world began spinning, his vision grew blurry and he needed to lean against the wall to stay on his feet.

This is what he gets for letting human meddle with his recovery process; now he was awake before his body completely recovered.

"Leonidas." Snape's voice resounded through the empty hall, with all the students having a dinner it wasn't much of a surprise.

"Sir." Vergil gave him a brief nod and stood without leaning against the wall.

Snape watched him, carefully observed every move Vergil made, perhaps expecting the boy to fall down.

Yet Vergil just grinned. "You sure saved my skin there, if you didn't show up I would have been killed." Too easy, he said it way too easily. Like he was talking about weather.

Boy's stomach growled in protest, informing both him and Snape that it was empty and in desperate need for food.

"Get going." Snape said as he followed behind the boy.

* * *

Draco played with his food unenthusiastically; he let out a sigh and glanced at the vacant seat next to him.

"Vergil still isn't awake?" Daphne asked when she noticed his mood and connected it with the missing Slytherin.

"No." Blaise told her, over the last couple of days the change in mood of the overall third year Slytherin students was apparent. One of their own was in hospital wing; unconscious and they couldn't even visit him because of Madam Pomfrey.

"If you don't eat you'll end up being a midget."

Draco immediately stood up and turned to his right. He wasn't the only one, Blaise was merely a few seconds slower than Draco and the rest of the year was quick to follow.

"Sorry I worried you." Vergil offered them an apologetic grin.

"You better be." Draco smirked; everything was completely back to normal.

* * *

 _ **Prisoner of Azkaban – Completed**_

* * *

 _ **And that's it, three books down. To be frank I'm not all that pleased with the fight scene, I'm still having trouble with completely grasping the spells.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thank you.**_

 _ **i lovedifferentmixesup – Thanks.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you, there will be more of that.**_

 _ **RedHood001 – Thank you, I'm slowly adding more than just Vergil to the story. Agreed on the line between bravery and stupidity, it's easy to cross that one, even easier to mix them together and get plain reckless, something that Vergil can be.**_

 _ **edgolub2 – Well, while Potter-verse can be dark there aren't too many scenes that explicitly show things getting darker. The differences between Harry Potter and One Piece are numerous, something that I do not plan on getting into here. Is my writing style better suited for something darker? Yes, just the fact that Vergil is a half-devil is a pretty big giveaway. Now, I do respect your opinion, but we'll have to disagree. While I didn't state that Vergil is a half-devil in the first chapter I did, and quite clearly, do that in the second one. I am not expecting readers to read every single story I write, it would be ridiculous. At the moment there aren't many reasons to explore the devils more than I already did; it would feel out of place to just throw in a bunch of information. I'll also disagree on Vergil's name. Yes, there's, as far as I know, nothing specific in mythology, but there is in history. I can assume that you reviewed after reading the first chapter. Still, thank you for the opinion.**_

 _ **ARandomAuthor14 – Thanks you. This chapter came a bit later than I expected, but I hope you enjoyed it.**_

 _ **Brit – Thank you. Hopefully the chapter met the expectations.**_

 _ **Anime PJ – Thank you, I guess it is somewhat heartwarming. You're right, it might not do much, but it certainly will push the doors open a bit. Given what I have in plan for the next book it will be needed.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Book – Goblet of Fire**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Preparation**_


	24. Preparation

_**Book 4 – Goblet of Fire**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 24 – Preparation**_

* * *

A boy taking the life of his father… Unheard of, right?

Born to the parents, so different the world will not let him be anything more than a half of each.

Raised by the kind of his father.

Strengthened by the ones sharing the abilities of his mother.

The path of his life chosen by the death of his mother.

Abandoned by the father whose traits he inherited.

The family name, the heritage of his father, everything ends, with him.

* * *

Frank Bryce knew he was in danger, if the fact that the doors were the only barrier between him and two criminals, murderers that not only committed but were planning yet another murder, was not enough to convince him the massive snake certainly was.

He needed to leave, now, he needed to warn police, get these people caught, but his legs wouldn't move. Not even when the cold voice spoke up once again, sending chills down his spine and robbing him of the chance to escape.

"According to Nagini, there is an old Muggle standing right outside this room, listening to every word we say."

The footsteps, the door of the room being flung wide open, it happened in seconds. And there, right in front of him was a short, balding man with graying hair, small, watery eyes and pointed nose. He looked alarmed, fearful. Of Frank's presence or his partner in crime wasn't clear.

"Invite him inside, Wormtail. Where are your manners?" The cold voice spoke once again, the owner remained hidden by the ancient armchair before the fire. But he could clearly see the snake, curled up right there.

The man referred to by the name Wormtail beckoned him into the room. He took a firmer grip upon his walking stick, if he played his cards right, maybe, just maybe he'd be able to escape.

"You heard everything, Muggle?" The voice spoke to him.

"What's that you're calling me?" Frank defied him, perhaps feeling brave, or simply buying time.

"I am calling you a Muggle, it means that you are not a wizard." The voice was cool, calm, even patient. It appeared as if the man had all the time in the world, or as if Frank's actions would be useless no matter what.

"I don't know what you mean by wizard." Frank sounded steadier by every second. "All I know is I've heard enough to interest the police tonight, I have. You've done murder and you're planning more! And I'll tell you this too; my wife knows I'm up here, and if I don't come back-"

"You have no wife." The voice interrupted him, seeing right through his supposedly clever lie. The fact that the voice became quiet betrayed the person's dislike at being lied to. "Nobody knows you are here. You told nobody that you were coming. Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, Muggle, for he knows… he always knows…"

"Is that right? Lord, is it? Well, I don't think much of your manners, _My Lord._ Turn 'round and face me like a-" He never completed his sentence. He didn't even hear the approach of his death. Perhaps one could say his death was painless, swift. As if cut down by wind itself there was no bloodshed, just a simple entrance wound right behind the man's heart.

"I do apologize for rude interruption, may you curse your fate for being born so weak." A cloaked figure knelt down and closed the eyes of the human man.

"Po-Podargos…!" Wormtail seemed to panic.

"Hello, Peter." The golden eyes looked up; a subtle smile on his face was visible even in the room only lit by flames. He knelt down on one knee. "I have read quite a lot about you, Lord Voldemort, may I speak to you?"

"A devil, I heard of the fate of your kind. Such pity. How may I be of help to you?" Voldemort spoke, making a brief pause. "I believe it would be proper to face you… Yes. Wormtail, come turn my chair around."

Wormtail whimpered, unwilling to comply but aware of the consequences of disobedience.

"You heard me, Wormtail." Voldemort repeated.

Still unnerved by any contact with his master Wormtail complied.

Many would be horrified by the sight of Voldemort, many humans, to be precise. Devils had no trouble with slimy looking form shaped somewhat like a human child. Hairless, scaly, dark, raw, reddish black. With thin and feeble arms and legs, the flat, snake-like face and the gleaming… red eyes…

"I am grateful for your sympathy, though it may not bring my brethren back. As it is the four of us, Lampon, Xanthos, Deinos and I, have been serving under our liege for the last three years. Diligently we formed recruited devils that survived and made sure our liege's health is on the path of restoration." Podargos stated, still not looking Voldemort in the eyes, maintaining the role of the subordinate at best.

"Wormtail had told me of his encounters with you and Deinos, the tales of your liege are the ones I am fully aware of. If, there is anything I can do to provide a quicker recovery, do tell." Voldemort offered.

"You have my humble gratitude. It may be much to ask, but may I request for you to hear me out and consider the offer I would be honored to make on behalf of my liege." Podargos requested, he lowered his head further down.

"You may speak."

"Thank you. It has come to our notice that our goals may align. My liege offers you partnership, military, power over all of us he commands and assistance in your own recovery to power. As a proof of our competence I have brought you a gift." Podargos reached for something underneath his cloak and pulled out a set of vials filled with silvery liquid. "This amounts to a liter of unicorn blood; we shall provide you with this and all you need in return to one simple favor."

The Dark Lord didn't take much time to respond. "The offer is, I must admit, quite tempting." He began. "Yet I must express my doubts. Your comrade, Deinos, had recently lost an arm, fighting against a child."

Podargos' eyes narrowed; clearly the reminder of Deinos' failure was not something he was pleased with. "Your doubts are understandable. Vergil Leonidas, responsible for Deinos' loss of an arm, is the one we need. He is a cambion, more commonly known as half-devil half-human, he may be a child, but I assure you, Deinos would not be wounded by a weakling."

Voldemort's eyes shone with a certain amount of curiosity at the information. "Wormtail, what can you tell me about the boy?"

Wormtail looked around, trying to remember anything valuable about the boy. "H-He's a Slytherin, in the same year as Harry Potter; uh I think he is attached to Severus Snape." That was about all he could say.

"If I may add; he is also a rather talented at sensory abilities. On the Halloween of the previous year he felt my presence and tracked me to the inn Wormtail and I were talking in. Being able to sense presence is not a common ability at such a young age and to such an extent. From his battle with Deinos we have learnt that he is adept at combining various spells, agile and talented at controlling lightning." Podargos added.

Red eyes observed the devil in front of him, taking in the information. "I believe we can arrange alliance." He stated.

"Thank you, My Lord." Podargos bowed even lower than before.

* * *

Disgrace, being left at the mercy of an enemy, surviving only because Snape arrived just in time… It was a disgrace to the devil half in him, disgrace to his devil pride. Disgrace and as much as it pained him to admit, a wakeup call.

Devils still existed and he was weak, too weak. He picked up his pace, running by the river as he nearly completed his daily ten miles long running session. Since it was still hot his shirt was completely soaked by the time he reached the river. The slight breeze caressed his face as he stopped.

Vergil dropped to the ground, quickly did ten push-ups, jumped to his feet, did a few quick directs and continued on running. Running in the morning, various exercises just after lunch and finally practiced the usage of lightning and darkness in the night. Strict following of the pattern, almost unhealthy with the way he drilled his body to near exhaustion.

About fifteen minutes later he entered the house Snape and he lived in, sweaty and in desperate need of shower. He took his clothes off, the black T-shirt he was wearing up until that point dropped down with a small thud.

He relaxed as cold water ran down his skin, down his fully healed arm and the muscles he was slowly building. The shower was fairly quick though; three minutes give or take a few seconds. Discipline, he needed to push it back into his life.

A sound of beak hitting glass caught his attention and he left the shower, nearly fully clothed with a towel over his neck. There was an owl by his window, one that he immediately rcognized as Draco's family owl.

Vergil let the owl inside and took the letter. Before he even opened it the white haired cambion felt dread engulf his mind. He couldn't explain it, it just did. Now that he was glancing at the letter explanation was unnecessary.

 _Quidditch World Cup…_

 _Quidditch World Cup!_

 _You have to go with me and my parents. Bulgaria versus Ireland… Viktor Krum!_

Draco was fanboying, that much was clear. Vergil nearly skipped to the end of the letter feeling like this was all it would be talking about.

 _Now, I know you're not too keen on Quidditch, but this is a must-do, there is no excuse for you to not be there. Plus my father had already gotten you a ticket, there's no way you can escape. Not that you'd do that, right? I think I'd have to hex you in your sleep if you refused me. You know, since trying to hex you while you're awake would be stupid._

Good to see he knew that much. On the other hand Vergil wasn't all that sure he liked his best friend's train of thoughts. Hexing someone while they sleep, that's not exactly the most honorable act.

 _Can you imagine seeing Krum in action? He's the best seeker in the world, it doesn't matter how much you lack common reason to see how good Quidditch is, you'll be amazed. I hear he's still at school. Can you imagine that? The best seeker! Still in school!_

Vergil rolled his eyes at that.

 _Quit rolling your eyes._

Vergil snorted at that.

 _And stop snorting, I know you by now._

Vergil had to chuckle at that.

 _So it's decided, you're going with us to see Quidditch World Cup._

 _I'll see you soon,_

 _Draco_

Vergil set the letter down, there wasn't much of a point in answering the letter, but he did. A simple ' _Fine_.' Was more than enough for Vergil to consider it a properly lengthened reply to Draco's letter. He attached the letter to the Malfoy's owl and sighed. As he resigned to his misfortune Vergil couldn't help but feel annoyance at Draco's attitude toward Quidditch.

* * *

 _ **And that's it. The Goblet of Fire… I don't think it will double the current chapter count, but it will take quite a few chapters to get it done. I apologize for this chapter being as short as it was.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Oliviaa Rose – Wow, I'm not exactly sure what to say. I'm happy you are so eager to read my story. Oh, from now on things are going to get, really heated up, I can promise you that.**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thank you, glad you liked it.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you.**_

 _ **Brit – Thanks.**_

 _ **RedHood001 – Oh, but as you can see here, teenagers aren't the only ones capable of spreading the rumor. What you've been saying for quite some time now had finally happened, he caught Voldermort's attention. As for Yule Ball, I'll be honest, I'm still thinking about what to do, however I do go by books, so if we're talking about the same scene it won't happen. The argument between Hermione and Ron happened in the Gryffindor Common Room, is there a possibility of the scene between Hermione and Vergil following the argument directly? Well, yeah, it's always a possibility.**_

 _ **Badger10 – First of all, thank you. Second of all, I can't exactly reveal my plans for this or the next books, but you do have a point, given the nature of the tournament, those three would have quite reactions.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you.**_

 _ **DarkShadow124 – Thank you for having faith in me. You're right, slowly but surely it's changing.**_

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter – Quidditch World Cup**_


	25. Quidditch World Cup

_**Chapter 25 – Quidditch World Cup**_

* * *

On the morning of the World Cup Vergil arrived to the already familiar manor via Floo Powder; he still hated the thing though…

"About time you got here." And the first person he saw was Draco, which was not that surprising.

"Sue me." Vergil rolled his eye; he lacked any and all patience for pretty much anything at the moment.

"Someone's a bit cranky." Draco pointed out. The glare certainly did prove his point.

Eventually the white haired boy sighed and relaxed a bit. "Looks like I'm starting to develop immunity to the dreamless sleep potion." Vergil explained.

"Oh." Draco sat down by the fireplace and Vergil followed his example. It was no secret to Slytherins in Vergil's year that he took the said potion and on almost daily basis. "Starting? It still works then?"

"For now, I do have to drink double dose; and even that lacks the needed effect. I'm skipping it every now and then, to start adjusting." Well, given the fact that he spent over three years drinking the potion it was about time his body began resisting it.

Draco attempted to ask whatever was currently on his mind a few times, each time he failed to utter a sound.

"Out with it, we're friends." Vergil assured him.

Draco contemplated a bit more before finally asking rather bluntly. "Why do you need to drink it?"

The white haired boy knew that would be the question or at least the gist of it anyway. It didn't make talking about it any easier though. "Because of war and guilt."

It took Draco aback; of all the things he could expect he certainly didn't expect a war to be Vergil's reason. "Oh." He didn't know what to say. What could he say? "I shouldn't have asked."

"Don't be. I'm an idiot for letting it affect me so much." He was putting on a façade, one so weak it wouldn't fool Crabbe and Goyle, let alone anyone with fully functional brain.

"That's not true; you have every right to be affected by it." Draco quickly told him.

The red eye met the grey eyes; the slightly younger Slytherin looked tense, no longer leaning back against his chair it looked like he was connecting the dots.

"Wait, I'm fairly certain there wasn't any war three years ago." Draco pointed out.

For once Vergil was glad he did a bit of a research on the most recent history. "Actually there was, the Ten-Day War back in June of 1991." Vergil explained.

Draco seemed to be unfamiliar with the said war. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know."

"It is quite far away from here, in Yugoslavia. I managed to escape and was eventually found by Snape." Vergil made up a story consisting of truths and lies.

"You feel guilty for leaving?" Draco's voice lacked any confidence.

Vergil closed his eye, he saw the battlefields, the war much longer than ten days, heard the sounds of battle, the weapons clashing and shots being fired. Civilians crying out for help as the buildings broke down… "I do. I should have died with them."

Draco remained silent, unable to find the right words, unable to will himself into interfering with the moment of vulnerability Vergil was experiencing.

The brief silence was broken by the arrival of Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy. A warm smile spread across her face when she saw Vergil sitting with Draco by the fireplace.

"Welcome, Vergil." The tall female approached them as Vergil stood up to greet her. She ignored the held out hand and gave him a hug, just like she did the last time he visited and Draco smirked at the uneasy look on Vergil's face. It was a bit clumsy, but the boy returned the hug. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too ma'am." Vergil replied.

"Would you look at that, you've grown quite a lot over the past few months." Narcissa commented and she was right. The dark green polo shirt with the red collar did a decent job at hiding the true extent of his training but the results were showing. Plus he did grow a few inches making him nearly as tall as Narcissa herself.

"Well, there's only so far spells can take you without some physical exercise." Vergil grinned a bit.

"Perhaps you could teach Draco about that." Narcissa pointed out light-heartedly.

"Mother, please…" Draco looked away. "Besides, Vergil's got my back."

"That I know." She agreed, glancing at the right forearm which still had barely visible marks on it, a gift given to Vergil by Buckbeak. It wasn't a secret that Narcissa simply adored Draco, what did come as a surprise to Vergil was some of that affection being given to him, especially after the incident with Buckbeak. "Come now, both of you, the breakfast has been served."

* * *

Malfoy's were very much a privileged family, so given the fact that Fudge was the one who arranged their seats and tickets they didn't have to go and spend a day camping. Instead the family, along with Vergil prepared at the mansion.

"Father how are we going to travel?" Draco asked once Lucius and Narcissa joined the two boys.

"We will **Apparate**. The two of you will **Apparate** with Narcissa." Lucius looked at Vergil. "I am not ashamed to say that her **Apparition** skill is above mine, a strong woman, that's what you should look in marriage."

"I completely agree with that." Vergil nodded.

"Make sure you keep a firm grip on my wrist." Narcissa instructed the boys. They walked over to her sides and with a deep breath held on to her.

What came next was a rather turbulent experience. But between Apparition and Floo Powder, Vergil would gladly pick Apparition. Even though it felt like his entire was being warped… somehow, the feeling was familiar. They reached the desired area with a barely audible pop and Draco dropped to his knees, vomiting. Vergil took a deep breath, feeling a bit shaky as the blurry image of blonde female, in her late twenties and the surrounding around them changing flooded his mind.

" _Mom… Back then…_ " He realized.

* * *

The walk to the stadium didn't take too long; though it was very much welcomed by both Vergil and Draco after the Apparition. The stadium was gigantic, fitting the crowd that surrounded it.

Lucius dealt with the tickets and the group of four began moving up the stairs. The crowd filtered as they went higher to the very top. Finally they reached the small box, set at the highest point of the stadium. It offered perfect view to both goal posts and about twenty seats.

They were immediately noticed by the Minister, Cornelius Fudge. Vergil's eye narrowed slightly, this man pretty much dubbed him 'You-Know-Who incarnate'. The white haired boy noticed Hermione, along with Potter and Weasley quickly turning toward them.

"Ah, Fudge." Lucius held out his hand. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco and his friend Vergil?"

"How do you do, how do you do?" Fudge was smiling as he bowed to Narcissa. The smile was wiped off his face when he noticed Vergil. "Well, h-hello there." The reaction didn't go unnoticed by the ones present.

Lucius had a barely noticeable smirk on his face; fully aware of what exactly made Fudge nervous. He too had felt nervous about Vergil's eye color; however any worry was pushed back once Draco got close to Vergil. Given what he heard from Draco regardless of Vergil's further actions he believed the boy would not turn against them.

Narcissa shared a similar train of thoughts and frankly she originally approved of Draco's friendship with Vergil because of what the boy could be. At the moment though, she was fond of the white haired boy for what he was, not for what he could be.

The Weasley patriarch took a look at Vergil and noticed the red eye, thus realizing what alarmed Fudge. On the other hand, his children, Potter and Hermione remained unaware of the obvious similarity between the Dark Lord and the Slytherin student.

Vergil merely nodded, showing quite blatantly that he couldn't care less of what Fudge thought.

"Yes, either way, allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk… Obalonsk… Mr.… well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind." As Fudge said that the Bulgarian minister seemed amused. "And let's see who else, you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?" Fudge turned back to Lucius.

The polar opposites in many views looked at each other before Lucius' eyes swept over the group. "Good lord, Arthur." He spoke softly. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"

"Lucius has just given a verygenerous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladiesand Injuries, Arthur. He's here as my guest." Fudge either ignored or simply didn't hear the low blow Lucius had delivered.

"How… how nice." The oldest Weasley had a very strained smile on his face

Vergil looked at the Hermione, at the determined look in her eyes as she stared right back at Lucius. It was one thing he would never agree with Lucius on, that blood dictates everything. He and Draco followed after Lucius and Narcissa and in that one moment, as he passed by Hermione he noticed a smile on her face. Subtly, without anyone noticing the two glanced at one another, the normally cold red eye softened, just a bit, just enough for her to notice.

Lucius and narcissi sat down, with Draco sitting by his mother's side and Vergil sitting next to him.

Ludo Bagman greeted the spectators. "Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

The result was shown: BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0 as the spectators screamed and clapped. In Vergil's honest opinion, the entire event was way too loud.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce… the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!" The right-hand side of the stands roared as a hundred of females glided out onto the field.

Veela, if Vergil remembered correctly, their skin shone as brightly as a Moon, their whitegold hair fanned out behind them though there wasn't any wind. Truly the Veela were mesmerizing, so mesmerizing that the male audience seemed to be completely under their spell.

As the music started and the Veela began dancing Vergil felt the full impact. His human side charmed by the dance. Their dance became faster and with the increased speed their effect became stronger. Vergil's pupil narrowed as his blood boiled, his nature going beyond the human instincts, going further and further away from his human side, to the primal desire for battle.

And then he felt at peace, he observed as the Veela danced, but their charm was broken, not by the human, not by the cambion, but by the devil.

"Impressive." Narcissa offered him a smile.

Vergil seemed puzzled by the compliment but then realized that Draco was standing and was pretty much a step away from doing whatever reckless idea he had on his mind. Lucius, albeit not as affected as Draco, still seemed quite enchanted by the dance. The white haired male merely shook his head, amazed at how effective the Veela's charm was.

He caught Hermione glancing at him; she seemed pleasantly surprised at the state he was in. He smirked and mouthed 'Piece of cake' which she seemed to understand as she looked at Potter and Weasley, both of whom were quite affected. She stifled a giggle and instead just smiled at him.

The first time they stole a mere moment to look at each other, they went unnoticed, this time the woman near Vergil noticed. Narcissa noted to herself that perhaps she should talk to Vergil about it later. Honestly, the white haired Slytherin seemed more affected by a simple glance from the Muggle-born than the entire dance, if the smile he probably wasn't aware of was anything to go by.

The Irish National Team Mascots came zooming into the stadium like a green and gold comet. It was a rather colorful show as something similar to a gold coin rain began falling onto the stands.

Bagman introduced the teams starting with the Bulgarians. "I give you… Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaand… Krum!" Viktor Krum, the thin, sallow-skinned seeker, only eighteen years old. "And now, please greet… the Irish National Quidditch Team! Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaand… Lynch!"

Red and Green, sort of like Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!" Vergil really didn't care about all the details Bagman was announcing, honestly he wasn't all that interested in this match either.

And then the absolute madness began transpiring before their eyes. Even Vergil who wasn't all that keen on watching Quidditch was fully aware of how fast-paced this game was. The figures zooming around with speed he had never imagined broom could achieve, making sharp turns and passing the Quaffle to one another at the same time. Bagman only had time to say the name of the last one to receive the ball.

The first score was made by Ireland's player, Troy, two scores later they were leading thirty-to-zero, prompting the game to become even more brutal and fast-paced. It took Bulgaria roughly fifteen minutes into the match to score for the first time and lower the difference.

The match continued with ball in Bulgarian team's possession. And then it happened, Seekers… The players that held the end of the game in their hands, the ones whose sole objective was to catch the snitch and get those one hundred and fifty points. Krum and Lynch moved, plummeting thought the center of the Chasers quicker than a normal eye could properly follow. And just as it seemed like they would crash Krum pulled out of the dive, spiraled off and left Lynch to hit the ground. The eighteen years old Seeker used the time mediwizards needed to revive Lynch to look for the Snitch.

Fifteen minutes that followed the feint had Bulgarian supporters gnawing at their nails as Ireland scored ten goals, making the result one hundred and thirty points to ten. To make matters worse with the game getting more brutal the fouls were being made again and again.

"This is ridiculous." Vergil muttered as he saw Mostafa, the judge, landing right in front of the dancing Veela only to get kicked in the shins by a mediwizard. And then two new penalties because of the argument, yeah, the cambion was losing his interest in the game. Not even Veela losing control and shifting into their bird-like appearance was enough to get Vergil's interest back. He just leaned back and waited for the end.

Bludger hit Krum full in the face, probably breaking his nose in the process, there was a lot of blood, that much was for sure. Yet there was no foul, because the judge had the tail of his broom on fire, courtesy of Veela throwing a fireball…

And then Lynch spotted the Snitch and went into a dive. That's when Vergil's attention went back to the game. Krum, despite the flecks of blood flying through the air behind him he dove right after Lynch. He was even with Lynch and then, the Irish Seeker crashed, again. And the Snitch… It had been caught, by Viktor Krum.

It was over… Bulgaria: 160; Ireland: 170… Ireland won, but Viktor Krum caught the Snitch.

And for that Vergil had to respect the Bulgarian. To end things on his own terms, in that state, probably dizzy and in pain but still, truly, the best Seeker in the world. He bowed his head down for the Seeker. That one moment, that made the night completely worth it. And so, he let the remainder of the procedures unfold as he leaned back and replayed the action in his mind.

* * *

"Vergil! Vergil wake up!" Draco's shouting immediately made Vergil jump to his feet.

"What's wrong?" He asked, looking a bit sleepy but other than that fully concentrated on whatever Draco was trying to tell him. That and he was fully capable of deducing whether or not Draco's reason deserved staying awake or ignoring the bleached blond.

"The two of you need to find cover." Narcissa told them. "Get into the woods; I'll meet you there as soon as it's clear for us to leave." She was clearly displeased with the situation at hand, whatever it was.

"Come on, I'll explain everything later." Draco said and for once took the leading role between the two.

Vergil sighed but relented. "Fine. Lead the way." He followed after Draco and got into the woods, they barely reached the cover of the trees when the reason became painfully obvious.

Almost at once the cacophony of screams resounded through the campsite. Vergil saw them, the group of people jeering, laughing, yelling… masks and hoods preventing anyone from recognizing them.

"Hey, what in the world is going on…?" Vergil asked and began moving after the group only to be stopped by Draco.

"Wait! You can't go after them!" Draco sounded desperate, baffled at the fact that his best friend would just walk into an unknown situation like this. "They are Death Eaters."

Vergil knew who Death Eaters were; Snape briefed him in about them when he gave him a small history of the Dark Lord. "And how come you and your mother knew about this? Wait… Your father?"

Draco's silence was the only answer he needed. "Vergil come on, we need to stay here."

And then the line was crossed, four figures were levitated above the group. Worse than anything, worse than the fact that the four individuals were contorted into grotesque shapes; the two of them were children… That made it all the worse… Muggles…

"What do you think a life is?! Your property to mess with just to get a laugh out of it?!" Vergil roared, his rage drowned out by the laughter and screams surrounding him, but Draco heard it. Heard it and let go of Vergil. "Muggles?! Wizards?! Don't fuck with me! You're _**humans**_!" Maybe it was just Draco's imagination, maybe it was the surrounding, but he could have sworn Vergil's voice was disembodied as he yelled that single word. What Draco couldn't see was Vergil's sclera turning completely red. "Damn it… Damn it…!" His breathing grew uneven, rapid as he tried to control what little sense of reason he had in him.

And he dropped to his knees, slamming his fist into the ground, leaving the crack and hating his weakness. Because he knows he can't get to those people and get them out of this mess safely. Not all of them, maybe the kids, but then he'd risk leaving them as orphans…

Behind him Draco fell back to the ground. His eyes wide as he looks at Vergil and then at the Death Eaters, then back at Vergil. Humans… It never crossed his mind that the Muggles were also humans, regardless of everything.

They had no idea how much time passed, eventually Vergil sat down, looking at the sky, still fully aware of everything surrounding them.

A yelp broke their silence and Draco jumped to his feet only to get somewhat smug when he realized who it was that joined them.

"Tripped over a tree root." Weasley said angrily as he got back to his feet.

"Well, with feet that size, hard not to." Draco announced his presence, looking as relaxed as he could be; he not only had his reputation to keep, but Vergil's as well.

"Piss off Malfoy." Weasley spat.

"Language, Weasley. Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like herspotted, would you?" He nodded at Hermione and at the same time a flash of green light momentarily lit the trees around them.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked defiantly, her eyes going to Vergil's back for a moment before glaring at Draco.

"Granger, they're after Muggles _._ Do you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around… they're moving this way." He bit his tongue, nearly saying that it would give all of them a laugh.

"Hermione's a witch." Harry snarled at him.

"Have it your own way, Potter. If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are." Draco smirked.

"Draco…" Vergil suddenly spoke up, anger radiating in his voice. "Do not, ever, call her like that in front of me." He stood up, frighteningly calm and collected as he turned to the trio. "Insults aside, you better leave while you can."

"Is that a threat Leonidas?!" Weasley seemed rather willing to get into a fight with the white haired male.

"Cut it out, Ron." Hermione quickly interfered, seizing Weasley's arm and restraining him. "I'm disappointed. I'd expect Draco to enjoy this, but you. I thought you were better than this." She looked at Vergil, the rage in his eye resurfaced at once.

"You sure think you know me, don't you? Well, I couldn't care less about your opinion." He was being driven by anger, anger caused by the Death Eaters and awoken once again by Hermione's words. "Get out of here, as far away as you can, or meet up with someone, hell if I care. Just stay out of their sight."

A bang from the other side of the trees made several people scream. Vergil gritted his teeth, they were so close, but he was so weak.

Hermione spared a few more seconds looking at him while the other three boys remained confused at the interaction between the two.

"Come on. Let's go." Hermione urged Potter and Weasley to leave while Vergil turned around and watched as the scene continued unfolding.

"Why go that far just to warn Granger?" Draco asked, the answer already clear in the back of his mind. Vergil once again fell into silence.

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 _ **And that's it. I apologize for taking so long to update, whatever reason I give you it won't excuse me.**_

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 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **josephguy217 – They sure do, thank you.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you, I'm glad it was a bit of a surprise.**_

 _ **Brit – Well, frankly it will take some time to get to the Yule Ball, but I think I can make that part good enough for the relationship between Vergil and Hermione. I apologize for taking this long to update.**_

 _ **KyuubiNoPuma – Well, at the moment I'm thinking of either making her his date or someone else, so at the moment I can't answer that for sure. As for other Slytherin characters, yes, not all of them to the same extent but they will get their time. As for Nott, that's a secret. I'll drop hints every now and then.**_

 _ **Idiot – Thank you.**_

 _ **Sainstrow10 – Thank you, sorry for the wait.**_

 _ **The Storm Master – Thank you. It's doing well at the moment; I'll probably get back to it soon.**_

 _ **JoyfulSky67 – I'm glad to hear that.**_

 _ **Quest – Thank you very much.**_

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 _ **Next Chapter – Back To Hogwarts**_


	26. Author's note

I'd like to give this story something more, to explore some other characters and not just follow the books story line. I've placed Vergil in Slytherin yet I've never used that properly.

With that being said, the new version is up on my profile. From now on chapters will be much longer, from 10k to 20k each.

This version will remain here until I catch up, the moment the second chapter of Goblet of Fire gets uploaded this story will be removed as there won't be much of a major plot differences between the two.


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